The Dirt Lawyer's Blog Archive

Let's forget all the politics here. As I have said before, green practices can have a positive impact on your bottom line. Ask Lee Scott , who says Wal-Mart isn't green but undertakes green practices to make more money. Case in point: TIAA-CREF wants to reduce energy consumption by 10%. Is that green? Yup. But it can also improve the bottom line, which makes your properties more valuable. Now, as Ellen Sinreich (one of the go-to people in the biz) says acceptance is not universal, but everyone knows it is the way the industry is going. So what would make the industry go green faster? Incentives. Some tenants will pay more to be in a green building but others will not. Mandates can also help (as Lisa Michelle Galley points out in SF, which is moving toward mandatory LEED), but I prefer carrots to sticks. Things like what Chicago is doing (some requirements, but expediting permits and the like which can be a HUGE plus) and other incentives would move developers in tha...

Lisa Michelle Galley has forgotten more about green loans than most of us (guess I'd better start learning now given the trend and the demand for the product), so I can without hesitation recommend part 1 of her projected two-parter on the topic. The key? Don't just assume that LEED = green (or at least I think that's what she is saying); rather, set certain performance targets that will reduce a carbon footprint and use that as the basis for measurement, because actual performance will, down the road, really matter.

To follow up on a previous post here regarding LEED and green buildings, here's some evidence (courtesy of Jordan Crouch) that building green buildings should pay off because of long-term cost savings and tenant demand. This is the wave of the future, folks, so catch it now or be late to the party.

Work is getting the best of me, so just a few quick items of note this morning: The Tribune has two recent stories on green initiatives that caught my eye. One is about buildings being built or renovated (the Merchandise Mart -- that's big!) with green in mind. The other is about Mayor Daley's own city-wide green initiative that will be published next year. Some of it seems a little pie-in-the-sky at first glance (wind turbines at Sears Tower?), but hey, this is the city of wrought iron too. And, as promised, here's more on the carried interest debacle and some estimated impact on the market. Read it and weep .

You have to give Frank Gehry credit. He wanted to invest in a building and even when his partners decided to bail he found a way to stay. And thus the Inland Steel building changed hands . The new owners are also saying that they intend to green up the building and will submit their plan to the City tomorrow. I don't know whether that means seeking some form of LEED certification, but I think it is cool regardless.

As I mentioned previously , one of my clients is working on a building that is expects to receive LEED certification. There are sometimes certain land use or other reasons behind such a certification (including getting City money or receive permit expediting or density bonuses here in Chicago), but let's face it: developers will probably build LEED-certified buildings when tenants demand it. According to this CPN story , corporations want sustainabilty and are willing to pay a premium for it. But tenants are having a hard time finding sustainable real estate solutions. Will that change? You would think. After all supply...demand. The amazing building at 111 South Wacker received a Gold certification and is hugely profitable. Yet, according to this interesting piece by the incomparable Blair Kamin, there are only 27 LEED-certified buildings in town and 1,100 around the country (albeit with many under development). While programs such as Chicago's helps, tenants can play ...