June 22, 2007—More than one-third of real estate professionals said that “green construction” would not be in their real estate development plans in the next 12-18 months, according to the fourth annual Bryan Cave Real Estate Executives’ Forecast Survey. The study surveyed real estate executives from across the US.
“The fact that the survey reveals such a substantial level of reluctance to embrace green construction is surprising,” said Barry Ross, a partner in Bryan Cave ‘s Real Estate Group. “Previously viewed as prohibitively expensive by the real estate community, green construction is not universally gaining ground because the true cost-effectiveness of green construction is still a matter of debate.”
According to the survey, the Southwest continues to be a dominant region for development, with 21 percent of respondents planning to invest in that area of the country although only one percent of survey respondents are based in the area. When asked about the region in the US they would invest in, 33 percent said the Northeast, 16 percent mentioned the Pacific Coast, and 10 percent named the Southeast.
Real estate respondents were particularly interested in investing in metropolitan office buildings (21 percent) and metropolitan and suburban multi-family, high-rise residential buildings (23 percent), according to the report.
On the foreign investment front, 55 percent of real estate executives said they are likely to invest in land outside the US within the next 12 months. Thirty-eight percent are highly likely and 17 percent are somewhat likely to invest abroad, despite threats of terrorism and continuing military conflict in certain parts of the world.
For the full report, visit the Bryan Cave Web site.
