Residential News

The WSJ says we don’t need to get worked up about Monday’s home sales report. Meanwhile, the ENR reports that while there won’t be a recovery in housing in the immediate future, one person believes that we’ll see 15%+ growth towards the end of the year and into 2011. In line with the weak housing numbers, Tom Royce reports that the Builders Confidence Index has dropped. Finally, not surprisingly, the WSJ reports that the number of subprime mortgages currently with negative equity is 6 in 10 borrowers on both the national and Atlanta level.

Commercial News

CIRE magazine highlights market trends for all sorts of markets and Atlanta is mentioned several times. The AJC summarizes the Atlanta office market. Finally, the WSJ thinks the worst is over for the commercial real estate market.

GA DOT

Lots of news on the transportation front this week for Georgia. Maria Saporta says that if we can’t do transportation funding right, then don’t do it at all. The ABC reports that DOT is changing its accounting practices in an effort to get projects moving. B King at Terminal Station comments on both the Saporta article and the fact that the statewide sales tax to fund transportation is dead. Finally, it what seems to be a never ending string of articles on ranking traffic, this week’s flavor ranks Atlanta a modest 22nd worst, which is actually pretty good.

Gwinnett Airport Privatization

A story that will probably be in the news a lot this year is the possibility of the privatization of Gwinnett County’s Briscoe Field. The Board of Commissioners is proceeding with studying the topic and reports on this can be found here, here, here and here.

Miscellaneous

Poverty is rising in Atlanta’s suburbs. A small business snapshot in the southeast. A look at a potential huge mixed-use project on Atlanta’s south side.

BrandsMart USA store in Gwinnet County is LEED certified.

The 118,000 square foot retail building is LEED certified, sporting some of the most cutting-edge green building techniques available today. That includes a sophisticated rain harvesting system that provides water to not only the landscaping, but the building’s restroom lavatories.

Many other green aspects of the building are discussed in this article from the Gwinnett Business Journal. The Gwinnett Daily post also profiled the grand opening and the building in a recent article.

September 23, 2009 – SUGAR HILL, GEORGIA – Blue Landworks LLC, civil engineering and planning, announced that its owner and president, Taylor Anderson,PE, was selected as an alternate on the Engage Gwinnett committee representing the 5th district as a citizen member.

From Engage Gwinnett’s website:

Engage Gwinnett: Citizens Committee for the Future of Gwinnett County is a citizen-led initiative where committee members will spend approximately six months looking at the community’s needs for current and future government services and proposing funding strategies to pay for those services over the next five years.

“Engage Gwinnett’s mission is critical to identifying ways that will not only resolve the financial questions that the County must answer, but maintain Gwinnett County’s reputation as a succesful, thriving community to live, work and play,” said Mr. Anderson.  “Being selected to the committee is a tremendous opportunity to help in that effort. I look forward to the challenge.”

Mr. Anderson’s work in the southeast includes a diverse mix of clients and locales. With experience in new civil site land development to redevelopment projects and serving clients from the north Georgia mountains to the North Carolina coast, Blue Landworks is ready to tackle not only today’s challenges, but the uncertainty of tomorrow.

CONTACT:

Blue Landworks
Taylor Anderson, PE – President
(678) 551-BLUE
media@bluelandworks.com
bluelandworks.com

February 18, 2009 – SUGAR HILL, GEORGIA – Blue Landworks LLC, civil engineering and planning, announced that its owner and president, Taylor Anderson,PE, was appointed by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners to the Development Advisory Committe. He was selected as the Professional Engineer representative on the committee that advises the County on all aspects of land development. Mr. Anderson’s appointment is a two year term.

“The selection to represent the engineering community on the committee is a great honor,” said Mr. Anderson. “I look forward to serving the citizens of the County and advising the Board of Commissioners and Gwinnett County staff. The appointment fits right in with our business philosophy – providing the highest quality service.”

Mr. Anderson’s work in the southeast includes a diverse mix of clients and locales. With experience in new civil site land development to redevelopment projects and serving clients from the north Georgia mountains to the North Carolina coast, Blue Landworks is ready to tackle not only today’s challenges, but the uncertainty of tomorrow.

CONTACT:

Blue Landworks
Taylor Anderson, PE – President
(678) 551-BLUE
media@bluelandworks.com
bluelandworks.com