NAIOP hosted a Texas summit meeting in Dallas last week for members of our Austin, Houston, and North Texas chapters to discuss the major issues facing the industry in the state. The summit provided members with the opportunity to engage in discussions on major trends and topics of importance to NAIOP and the commercial real estate industry.
Following three weeks of negotiations and squabbling, House Republicans elected Louisiana Representative Mike Johnson to serve as the 56th Speaker of the House. This was a difficult time for House Republicans, who struggled to find a new speaker after eight of their members joined all House Democrats to abruptly oust McCarthy on Oct. 3.
NAIOP’s 2023 chair talks about four topics that often arise during his visits to chapters across North America: community relations, e-commerce, EV trends and designing policies with communities.
While fighting in Congress over spending bills is nothing new, the heated politics surrounding this year’s federal government funding battle, and the resulting animosity if a government shutdown does materialize, could linger well beyond October and make reaching agreement on a tax bill all the more challenging.
There are only 11 days when both the House and the Senate are scheduled to be in session before the current federal funding authorization expires. In most years, the House and Senate leadership would simply agree to a continuing resolution (CR) that maintains existing federal policy and holds funding at current levels for a certain period to prevent a government shutdown before Oct. 1. This year, however, is not following Congress’ standard operating procedure, and is reminiscent of the years when congressional leaders were powerless to rein in the political forces that led to government shutdowns.
Earlier this year NAIOP Wisconsin was made aware that the City of Wauwatosa was looking to fast-track the adoption of a transportation utility user charge or fee (TUF) in order to generate additional revenue for local transportation and infrastructure needs. The transportation utility fee would apply to both residential and commercial properties based on the vehicle traffic generated by the property’s use, and not necessarily their valuations.
August has arrived, which for Capitol Hill means that Congress is in recess until sometime in September. However, Congress left town last Friday with little agreement on a path forward for must-pass appropriations bills to keep the federal government operating past the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1.
The sluggish return to the office, financing and liquidity, and new ways of approaching the office sector were the predominant themes of an elite gathering of C-suite office owners, investors and developers. The conversation, spearheaded by NAIOP and hosted last week in New York City, explored the challenges and opportunities facing the sector.
McKenzie Darr, a recipient of the 2022 Developing Leaders Award, has a career goal of building bridges – metaphorical ones, that is, between public and private sectors – to advance communities.
NAIOP’s chair shares his thoughts on our industry, his goals this year as chair, why advocacy matters, and the value provided by NAIOP.