News

  • Data analytics heightens location intelligence for CRE firms

    Data analytics heightens location intelligence for CRE firms

    As you click through overlays on a digital map, the expanse of insights pop up in colored areas generated by data analytics. Today’s data analytics tools will show demographics by U.S. Census block: total population, median income, median age, education levels and job categories. But then there is so much…

  • Harford County protest sparks policy debate over ‘mega warehouses’

    Harford County protest sparks policy debate over ‘mega warehouses’

    A heated debate in Harford County about a proposed 5.2 million sf industrial development has brought a new policy question to the forefront: Have large, modern warehouses evolved beyond a reasonable definition for light industrial? For well over a year now, Chesapeake Real Estate Group (CREG) has been dealing with…

  • Construction codes, tax laws, environmental measures debated

    Construction codes, tax laws, environmental measures debated

    The Maryland General Assembly has crossed the midpoint of its 2023 session. After a somewhat slow start, by the 41st day of the 90-day session, more than 2,200 bills had been introduced many with important implications for commercial real estate. A select list of bills that are a high priority…

  • Women in Construction Week celebrates workers’ success

    Women in Construction Week celebrates workers’ success

    The photo of a man with a hard hat holding drawings or a power tool is still the stereotypical image for a construction worker. Since its advent in 1998, Women in Construction (WIC) Week has worked to highlight the different journeys taken by women to achieve the same goal and…

  • In remote work setting, employees still crave face-to-face interaction

    Now approaching three years since the “great work-from-home experiment” was forced upon nearly every office worker, a substantial percentage have found their way back into the traditional office setting, some have settled into a hybrid arrangement and a smaller number have vowed never to return, even if that means quitting…

  • As hybrid work model evolves, employers must practice patience

    As hybrid work model evolves, employers must practice patience

    Nearly three years after the work-from-home model became standard operating procedure, employees and employers alike are still trying to determine which practices and policies provide the most flexibility and fairness but, as everyone is finding out, one size will never fit all. During an international roundtable discussion, participants from France,…

  • Interest rates, recession fears fuel capital stack challenges

    Interest rates, recession fears fuel capital stack challenges

    High interest rates, inflation and fears of a recession are increasing challenges for CRE companies seeking financing. During the Construction Blueprint Series Economic Outlook webinar hosted by the Building Congress & Exchange, MacKenzie Capital President John Black and Vice President Brendan Harman discussed current financing conditions and the 2023 prospects…

  • Maryland economy’s health linked to economic viability of Baltimore City

    Maryland economy’s health linked to economic viability of Baltimore City

    America’s largest cities have “an outsized role in the country’s economic engine,” according to an article appearing in Business Insider, which ranked the largest metropolitan areas based on metrics that included unemployment rate, job growth, per capita GDP, GDP growth and average weekly wages. Examining several of these categories, Baltimore…

  • Maryland places fifth in USGBC ranking

    Maryland places fifth in USGBC ranking

    In the USGBC’s annual ranking of U.S. states “leading the way on green building,” Maryland ranked No. 5 last year, moving up two places from 2021. 5061 Howerton Way, a single-story building in Melford Town Center comprising 34,560 square feet of flex/R&D space, was the…

  • The art of energy benchmarking

    The art of energy benchmarking

    Building owners will soon have to learn the art of energy benchmarking and carefully report each building’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). The first building GHG number reported to MDE, which building owners are required to do beginning in 2025, will be the…