At the end of this article, any real investor or person interested in a sustainable future should ask the question; “What’s really best for us all.” And while this may ring of pure altruism and ideological naivety, thinking costs so little and can bring so much. 

Dilma Vana Rousseff – Courtesy Wikipedia

The Cost of a Kinder, More Gentle Rio

News from the BBC this morning tells of the march of progress, and the oft-time bulldozing of dreams too. As Rio 2016 draws nearer, developers and especially the administration of President Dilma Vana Rousseff (above in an interview)  have to quicken the pace of progress. Let’s not forget FIFA is coming to town ahead of the IOC cavalcade for soccer’s super bowl, the World Cup. And with the “quickening”, as has been the case always, the poor and influential often suffer. Robin Lustig’s BBC story unveils speaks the names of a few who did live in the once destitute slums overlooking the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema.

Berenice Maria das Neves, the heroin of Lustig’s version of “imminent domain” 21st Century style, resided with her children for 8 years on the muddy hillsides surrounding Rio. Then she was called to the hallowed steps of City Hall, presented with a check for $5000 (US), only to return to find her meager home leveled by bulldozer. If I am reading the story correctly, Rio decision makers got residents out of their homes just long enough to make them homeless in one fell swoop.

Rocinha is the largest hill favela in Rio de Janeiro – courtesy Wikipedia

She is not alone, the government says they intend to level 3000 homes in the area, while “treating people as fairly as possible”, according to the BBC report. I’m sorry, but for this writer fair is fair – unfair is unfair. The actual number of homes to be leveled is reportedly much higher. Fairness for this whole gentrification process seems to equal building some classy shacks an hour and a half away from the city center, where most of the poor work in Rio. In the most publicized move preceding these sporting events, security forces  essentially occupied the notorious Rocinha slum back in 2011. Real estate prices climbed by 50% by the next morning.

The neighborhood, once a haven for squatters, is situated on a hill between two rich areas of Rio’s richest zone. Now, former residents can no longer even afford their own neighborhood. And that $5000 handout to Berenice?  Clearly someone will make many times that just from her tiny speck of a home.

Beneath the Human Factor, Another Humanity Factor

But this is only the tip of a restructuring iceberg for Rousseff’s administration. Getting the drug lords out of Rio’s hills, building on a massive scale including infrastructure projects of monumental scale, Rio is the latest in a line of Olympic transformations. The nightmares of environmental calamity and displacement from Sochi, Russia still echo – and Vancouver’s Native Americans having only just now been shut up. “Nothing stands in the way of progress” is today, and even more powerful sentiment than before the Robber Barons and manifest destiny.

One does not have to work for Greenpeace or a humanitarian organization to understand the poor have nothing to gain from real estate booms like the one beginning in Rio. As is always the case, the best Berenice Maria das Neves and her children can hope for will likely be the crumbs from beneath the proverbial tables of the rich. Ah, but Bernice got hers in advance. Tickets to the events may have proved more useful.

What’s left of the great Atlantic Forests – courtesy Wikipedia

My final note is actually a recurring sort of environmental and bad business nightmarish one. You see, the Olympics and other business operations are really about making money for a relative few companies and individuals. There’s not sense mixing metaphors and beating about the bushes. What is left of the great Atlantic Forest (above)that once surrounded Rio, all Brazil in fact, will certainly disappear from the Earth once the new roads and infrastructure is cut out there. Of course every expert (PDF from MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference) is being beaten from the woodwork to justify these games. But despite all the rabble rousing of profiteers, housing and other economic problems of Brazil will cease to worry investors once these games move elsewhere. Capetown should be a fine example here.

Vancouver, Sochi, even the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea are in part the result of what you might call “classical profiteering selection”, or sites chosen largely because of a natural resource. Timber (think of this as you watch the video below), of rare and unique quality and value if it were weighed properly. But the machinations of the IOC’s ruling members and the companies behind them is fodder for an upcoming piece. Suffice it to say the poor of the world are once again being transplanted to serve the rich. Ironically though, the bigger cost in terms of what we all lose environmentally, is a veritable gentrification of Earth, with only one tenant on prime real estate.

To be continued….

Escalating energy costs, dwindling natural resources, and as we now see from Japan dramatic environmental and man made cataclysm, make the professional real estate landscape far more of a challenge than ever before.

The future of real estate, the green agent

Real estate professionals, under ever more significant pressure to provide answers, will need all the “cutting edge” and even out of the box knowledge they can get. The future of real estate as a business, looks very little like the industry of the past, for those in the know. The Co-Chairperson of this program, economist Ray Torto of CBRE helped solidify this idea with the following:

“Whether you believe it or not, you need to know why. What are the economics of sustainable projects relative to the ‘old way’?”

Casa Calma Hotel, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Courtesy of Caitlin Cunningham.

This program, specifically designed for senior real estate execs and ther partners and managers, is as innovative a real estate program as any we have seen, at least on paper. Conducted by Harvard GSD and Henley staff, it offers up an impressive list of scholars and industry gurus from around the world who will take part going forward. t will be taught by renowned faculty members from Harvard GSD and Henley, as well as an impressive roster of scholars, practitioners, and industry leaders from around the world.

For more information about this intesting and potentially game changing program, please visit the official Harvard School of Design website, or consult this official PDF containing more information. And for those who would like to sign up for the program online, here is the form. The cost of the program is: for Henley £4995 + VAT and for Harvard $6500. Alternatively, those interested may contact the program manager by phone at: 617-384-7214.

From the Motion Matters exhibition at Harvard GSD

The new plans will include three primary focus areas: community partnerships, broker/tenant education and mentor-ship. Educating people about green practices is one of the council’s main objectives, and they will work with schools and non-profit organizations in Orange County to foster awareness and green building initiatives.

NCKU Green Magic School project - courtesy Research Express

In 2010, Executive Director, Lisa Kramer forged alliances with community and business leaders and USGBC sponsors. The Orange County chapter followed their guidance in reaching its goals. Supporters and newcomers can expect that cooperative effort to continue in 2011.

To kick off the 2011 campaign, the council will hold an event at the Business Expo Center in Anaheim on January 27 at 5:30pm. Among the featured guests will be one of California’s most charismatic and knowledgeable experts on green building, Panama Bartholomy (below), Deputy Director of the Energy Efficiency and Renewables Division of the California Energy Commission. The event is available to members for $25.00, non-members for $35.00, and students at a reduced price of $15.00.

Panama Bartholomy discusses green issues - courtesy eGreenItems

The USGBC is a non-profit organization that promotes sustainability through cost-efficient and energy-saving green building. They offer LEED certification for buildings that meet the organization’s human health and environmental requirements. For more information about the Orange County chapter of the USGBC, you can visit their website at usgbc-oc.org.