Monday, February 9, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
William Baker presents Burj Dubai
William Baker presents Burj Dubai from The Architecture Foundation on Vimeo.
What do you do when you need to transport a great number of people up a 636+ metre mixed-used tower? How do you deal with condensation that builds up when the heat of the desert meets the cool of the air-conditioned interior? As it turns out, you develop a 40 mph elevator - the world’s fastest; and collect the moisture and pump it into the site’s landscape plantings. Yet there are so many more questions still to be asked regarding the Burj Dubai, the tallest building on earth and surely one of the most ambitious projects the world has ever seen. This talk is a unique opportunity to do so.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Crisis to hit business districts in India
India's well-established commercial business districts (CBDs) are likely to face vacancies this year, as the first impact of the global recessionary economy is being felt by the financial and other organisations, according to a real estate consultancy firm.
"We will also see a reversal of the trend witnessed over the past two expansionary decades where large organisations moved from owned to leased assets. Given the drop in prices and availability of choice properties, this will be a good time for surviving organisations to announce their new leadership positions through trophy purchases," Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj (JLLM) said in a report Predictions for Indian real estate 2009.
The firm believes CBD vacancy rate, if triggered, can add significant pressure to the upcoming and newly developed premises in upcoming front-office districts such as Lower Parle in Mumbai and Nehru Place in Delhi.
While the sentiment in the US and Europe towards outsourcing is positive in the long term, the active decision-taking for expansion by business process outsourcings is totally suspended for the moment.
"We do not expect this to change in 2009. Hence, the pressure on upcoming and announced projects – especially special economic zones (SEZs) – will continue this year," the report said.
In 2009, IT SEZs will also experience further pressure from the fact that the software technology parks' concessions may be extended for another couple of years. While these concessions are important for IT companies' survival during the recession, they will adversely impact SEZ developments.
Moreover, the peripheral areas of metros as well as the tier II/III cities will need to compete with the central or secondary business districts for the same set of talents, thus dissolving the clear segmentation that was emerging and separating various micro-markets over the past couple of expansionary years. Newly developed or announced projects are especially going to suffer and may see continued vacancy.
"The year will also see practices in the real estate business become more organised and professional, as they did in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the introduction of foreign institutions, foreign money and the creation of government-supported large development formats. A similar professional approach may reach warehousing land acquisitions."
Residential properties
Much of the previously anticipated demand for 2009 will not see the light of day due to the confluence of various factors. According to JLLM, developers have only now begun to come down on their rates, and a lot depends on how many of them will follow suit in the coming year. The much-awaited drop in interest rates for home loans has happened, but not at a level sufficient to pull the residential sector out of the doldrums entirely.
In response to the considerable demand for such formats, the company anticipates more national players to launch affordable housing projects this year. However, since different cities will have different costs for land and construction of such homes, developers will have to define "affordable housing" on a city level.
"We expect that at least 20 per cent of the players in residential real estate will begin to think on a portfolio rather than project level. Developers have been pricing their projects according to their expected profit margins vis-à-vis the cost of land in different locations. Buyers are not prepared to consider the initial and appreciated cost of land as a valid component of the price."
According to the report, "portfolio level" means at least one fifth of the developers will now cross subsidise their construction costs internally and sell their project at prevailing selling rates.
Two scenarios
In terms of sales volumes and market recovery, there are two distinct scenarios: buyers who were waiting for rates to drop to levels they could afford will make their moves when rates fall into their budget range. Secondly, buyers will continue to wait for the time that delivers the best rates – a point that may come and go without them being aware of it.
Decisive time
The year 2009 will see a good number of capital markets transactions, but the period from March to December will be a "decisive" time.
All business sectors have been hit by the economic meltdown, and many will generate liquidity by divesting non-core assets such as real estate. Types of enquiries are likely to be in the higher risk adjusted return segment with greenfield opportunities seeing limited interest as most investors will be investing in Asia with chasing liquidity and not higher return. Residential projects in the middle-income segment are likely to see renewed interest with interest rates declining this year.
"In 2009, we will also see the decisive arrival of sale-and-lease-back deals, in which owners currently occupying their properties will sell them and continue as lease tenants. Corporates have to address liquidity issues in their core businesses and are now eager to unlock the value of their non-core assets," JLLM said.
The biggest buyers would be foreign direct investment-compliant India-dedicated funds, domestic funds, high net worth individuals and corporate houses.
Dynamics
The year will be guided by dynamics of two contradictory forces: recession trend guided by capital market slowdown, decrease in demand, caution in cost and spending and governmental and social efforts to regain growth momentum. "For the first three to six months the impact of point recession trend will be more significant while in the later half of 2009 support to growth from government and global community will be more visible," JLLM said.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
4 degrees warmer, great cities wash away
Great cities could wash away if the Earth gets hotter by 4 degrees and the Ganges in India could dry up. India would be one of the most impacted countries by global warming.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Buying a house? Get your basics right
With interest rates on a downward spiral and prospects of getting a good deal on a house, the real estate sector could witness some buying in the coming months.
Though property consultants recommend waiting for a few months for the right price, some home-seekers may be tempted to kick off their house-hunting expedition soon
Time for shortlisting
While there is no need to rush into a decision, you can start looking out for a house right away. "Once the market bottoms out, home-seekers will start making a beeline for properties and loans. If you have identified your ideal home beforehand, you will be a step ahead," says KPMG director Ashish Shah. You can jump at the earliest opportunity available — in terms of price and interest rate.
Lack of buying activity means that the market is skewed towards the buyer at the moment. "You can start quoting a price that seems reasonable to you. Try quoting a price that is 50% less than the highest price of a property in the locality commanded in the past," suggests a financial planner Kartik Jhaveri.
Identify your needs and capacity
Your heart may be set on a plush residential complex replete with state-of-the-art facilities, but that should not make you lose sight of your basic needs. For instance, if the well-equipped complex is not close to a railway station/bus stop, and you do not own a private vehicle, then commuting could turn out to be a nightmare.
Hence, when you commence your house-hunting mission, it is advisable to keep a list of must-have attributes ready. In addition to quality of construction, evaluate the existing infrastructure. Finding a perfect house is nearly impossible, but comparing shortlisted properties will help you zero in on one that meets majority of your requirements.
"This apart, the present and future market drivers, financial ability and personal investment objectives should be borne in mind," says Raminder Grover, CEO, Homebay Residential, a subsidiary of property consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle Meghraj.
A ruthless assessment of your financial situation — current as well as future — is essential; factor in possible pay cuts and job loss. If you are planning to sell your old flat and buy a new one, it is better to do so only after securing the sales proceeds. Though bridge loans meant for such funding gaps are available, in the current scenario, it is better to steer clear of avoidable liabilities.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
A recyclable house from Germany
Who would have guessed that an entirely recyclable, zero-emissions, zero-carbon, sustainable house could be such a style icon? House R 128 by the architects at Werner Sobek brings the best of both worlds to the table. Rising four storeys in Stuttgart, Germany, this modern glass edifice has nothing to hide. The see-through house features a facade of triple-glazed windows that allow natural light to filter through and flood every room inside. The home’s front facade features photovoltaic panels that power the house and light it up when the sun goes down. Adding to its amazing sustainable features, the house also boasts geothermal energy and cooling.
The modern modular design – including its wooden floor and facade – is designed for easy assembly and dismantling, so not only is this innovative house off-the-grid, it’s also reusable, and completely recyclable! Accessible by a bridge above the kitchen and dining room, the 2,706-sq.-ft. home offers a warm welcome with a contemporary edge. Minimal style is king at House R 128, which has no interior walls, and a few modern pieces that characterize the home’s open-concept living areas. Werner Sobek
Photo credit: Roland Halbe and Josef Schulz, Stuttgart/Germany.
(trendir.com)
Monday, February 2, 2009
SBI cuts home loan rates to 8%, other banks may follow
In a move that is likely to force other banks to bring down home loan rates, the State Bank of
SBI's decision means that for fresh borrowers, EMIs on home loans of Rs 30 lakh or more will drop sharply. The EMI on a Rs 30-lakh loan for 20 years will fall by 15% and that on a Rs 50-lakh loan by 18%. The maximum benefit will accrue on home loan amounts of over Rs 75 lakh, where the interest rate comes down by 3 percentage points from 11% to 8%.
That's the good news. The bad news is that the cut will not benefit most existing borrowers. It will, however, benefit those who have borrowed under the special scheme announced by the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) in December. Under that scheme, the interest rate on home loans up to Rs 5 lakh was fixed at 8.5% and for those between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 20 lakh at 9.25%.
For existing borrowers, SBI has offered a new personal loan scheme entitled `SBI Lifestyle Loan'. Under this, they can get a multipurpose loan of up to 10% of their home loan, subject to a maximum of Rs 5 lakh, at 8% interest. However, this loan will have to be repaid in one year.
SBI's decision seems to be a response to RBI's statement on Tuesday that banks have not fully passed on to their customers the benefits of the central bank's liquidity-infusing measures since October 2008. Following that statement, Punjab National Bank, the second largest government-owned bank, also cut its benchmark lending rate by half a percentage point on Friday. But floating rates on its home loans remain between 8.5% and 10.25%.
An SBI spokesperson said the decision was taken to kick-start demand in the real estate sector. However, real estate developers are not very optimistic, with most saying it was encouraging but inadequate.
Some bankers, on condition of anonymity, argued that it was a smart move by SBI. Interest rates, they said, were likely to fall even lower by March-April and the country's biggest bank was, in fact, hoping to lock in borrowers at 8% for a year before that happened, they said.
