Weekly News Roundup for January 19, 2018
Weekly News Roundup for January 26, 2018
Weekly News Roundup for February 9, 2018
Weekly News Roundup for March 2, 2018
Weekly News Roundup for March 9, 2018
Weekly News Roundup for May 11, 2018
Weekly News Roundup for June 1, 2018
Weekly News Roundup for April 21, 2017
These are some of the stories we’ve been following this week.
- Lawmakers continue to work on the details of extending the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program as the April 28 deadline draws closer. The program will end unless Congress decided to re-authorize it.
- The Keystone XL Pipeline is back on track, but a group of farmers in Nebraska could derail the project if the Nebraska Public Service Commission agrees that the pipeline would cause economic harm to the state’s agricultural industry.
- Lower-income families living along the proposed border wall route have an ally in a Texas civil rights group that wants to make sure the families are properly compensated if the government uses eminent domain to acquire their land.
- When New York banned hydraulic fracturing, the mayor’s office expected lawsuits to challenge the law. However, only one lawsuit has been filed aimed at overturning the ban.
- A family leaving near Dartmouth College reached a settlement with the school after they filed a lawsuit alleging the family’s drinking water was contaminated by a nearby site that was used to dump animals that had been used in science experiments.
- Coastal homes in Florida could see their property values drop in the future due to climate change. If the waters rise too high, residents’ boats will not be able to sail under the bridges, and sailing is a reason people locate to the coast.
- Canada’s federal methane regulations may be delayed until 2020, but the government expects the regulations to be fully implemented in 2023.
- Several lawsuits allege that millions in California could have been drinking water contaminated by substances that are used in two pesticides.
- Australia-based Carnegie Clean Energy tripled its capital raising to $18 million. The company increased the raise after a positive response to the initial plan.
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Weekly News Roundup for April 28, 2017
These are some of the stories we’ve been following this week.
• Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is well below its risk limit. The $940 billion fund is the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world.
• Property values in Milwaukee, Wisconsin are up from last year by 4.5 percent. Property values as a whole in the city have increased all of the last four years.
• Methane emissions in Canada are higher than originally believed, according to two new reports.
• A lawsuit filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges that a horse racing track illegally poured pollutants into a canal along the Intracoastal Waterway in Florida.
• A new device that uses nanotechnology could change how oil spills are cleaned up in the future.
• The Supreme Court of Virginia is currently listening to a case that could have significant effects on eminent domain in the state.
• Youth summer camps in Flint, Michigan were canceled because the camps were near where crews were working to remove coal tar from the Flint River.
• Creosote contamination along the Bow River in Calgary, Alberta has proven to be a tough mess to clean up.
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Seattle City Council Passes Ordinance to Save Beloved Music Venue
Cory Nowacky, Associate Analyst
With news that a residential tower would be replacing one of the few remaining historic music venues in Seattle, the city quickly responded with action to preserve one of Seattle’s longest standing and iconic music & entertainment venues, The Showbox. These efforts included a petition which led to a unanimous council vote on August 13th that would temporarily extend The Showbox having home in the Pike Place Market district.
Among the outcry of supporters leading to the vote were many native Seattle musicians including Mike McCready of Pearl Jam and Duff McKagan of Guns n’ Roses. Both signed an open letter that referenced saving The Showbox due to its cultural impact from the widespread musical history with artists across all genres of music including Duke Ellington, The Ramones, Prince, and many others leaving a cultural history that will forever be engraved in the city.
With the vote, the proposed 44-story, 442-unit apartment building will be put on the shelf for the next 10 months while the city decides on a plan to allow The Showbox to continue operating. One plan includes nominating The Showbox for landmark status which would not completely thwart an attempt to demolish but may make it more difficult. A change.org petition has been created and is nearing 100,000 signatures.
While this demolishment was halted it would seem that due to the steady increase of residential development in Seattle this will not be the last time that a building with cultural impact and influence faces extinction in order to capitalize on the demand for new places to live.
With the unanimous vote the city also lost out on $5 million for Seattle’s affordable housing fund from the developer, Omni. Was the protest of tearing down the venue worth it to the city in the long run? While it may seem like the right idea to save a cultural representation of Seattle’s history, it’s also worth pondering the long term consequences from protests like these. Housing, zoning laws, funding, and politics are amongst the variables fueling these decisions.
It would seem many of the people that are for saving the venue have let emotion sway their opinion on salvaging a venue that both they and the city have a personal history with. As there are many arguments to be made from both sides, it would be nice to see more of a discussion on the pros and cons rather than petitions from rock stars citing nothing other than well-curated opinions. While this emotion driven response from musicians across the county is understandable, consider that the city has many other music venues waiting to paint a cultural history of their own. With limited space and laws that make it difficult to build, the city may have to consider sacrificing some of its favorite places to keep up with the housing demand that has flooded the city.
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Dr. Kilpatrick’s Expert Opinion Joins Forces in a Positive Outcome for Kauai
In breaking news for Kaua’i, companies Ulupono Initiative and Hawai’i Dairy Farms (“HDF”) will not be moving forward with their plans to construct a concentrated animal feeding operation (“CAFO”) in Hawaii’s Maha’ulepu Valley. On an island such as Hawaii, providing sustainable and affordable local alternatives while also making sure these operations don’t impact the local residents is extremely important.
Dr. Kilpatrick, director of Greenfield Advisors, provided evaluations to address concerns with the CAFO and value implications for property owners. Dr. Kilpatrick inspected this area twice, in 2008 and 2016, spoke at the community center, met with several public officials, and met with numerous local property owners. It is his professional determination that “Properties downwind of this proposed facility, and particularly properties between the facility and the shoreline, will be diminished in value by 50% or more.” On top of that, the remainder of the island would also feel negative impacts.
Based on the details that HDF provided, Greenfield calculated that the CAFO would produce over 35,000 tons of manure per year, which would automatically place it in the largest category of CAFO’s, and therefore be considered a known pollution problem. Often with environmental concerns it’s difficult to understand the impact without understanding a dollar amount, and that’s where Greenfield comes in. With 40 years of experience in deciphering valuation issues in environmental economics and land valuation, it was clear that this proposed CAFO did not present any benefits to the local economy, and would impose severe economic and environmental costs on the entire community. Greenfield’s research shows that CAFOs are more likely to bypass local retailers and import the factors of production, making the economic growth rate of the community smaller. At the individual residential appraisal level they are also viewed as negative externalities and therefore diminish the property value of nearby residences.
In 2012 Kuethe and Keeney[1] found that the negative impacts of animal feeding operations are comparable to those generated by industrial waste, solid waste, and septic waste facilities. The Union of Concerned Scientists have also weighed in on the negative local impacts, “Confined animal feeding operations damage our air, water, and the rural communities they inhabit. And when we count the costs of this damage, it turns out we can’t afford to produce.” As noted by a University of Hawaii Agriculture specialist, the key with farming is to recognize that while the plan may sound good, you can’t create an environment. Rather, you have to make sure the plan fits the environment.
Thank you Friends of Maha’ulepu for all your hard work on making sure this plan fit your needs! We’re proud to have been a part of this research and provide our input on the economic impacts.
[1] Kuethe, Todd & Keeney, Roman. (2012). Environmental Externalities and Residential Property Values: Externalized Costs along the House Price Distribution. Land Economics. 88. 10.3368/le.88.2.241.
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What Goes Up Is Staying Up.
The housing market started off a little slow, but with interest rates dropping from last year, things appear to be more positive. Prices in most markets have continued to rise or stabilize as sellers still find themselves in an atmosphere where the demand for homes mostly outpaces the supply, albeit it has shifted somewhat with the increase in inventory recently and with buyers in some markets gaining some negotiating power.
Existing home sales actually rebounded strongly in February 2019. According to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), sales of existing homes were up 11.8% from January 2019. Although February 2018 has seen sales down 1.8% the national median listing price for homes increased 3.6% year over year to $249,500. This marks the 84th straight month of year-over-year gains. As the year goes on 2019 is seeing most markets increasing in inventory which should give buyers more options and combined with the lower interest rates could prove to be a solid spring market. The median prices for existing homes were highest in the West ($379,300) and lowest in the Midwest ($188,800). The share of first-time buyers also increased from the previous month and from a year ago to 32%.
Unless a major economic collapse happens expect these numbers continue their upward slope. With supply still at odds with demand one will see increases in valuation continue and the starter home market in major metros facing a rough road ahead for affordability.
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