Stay in the Loop With These 5 Must Reads from October

Welcome back to LoopedIn — a monthly recap of the most noteworthy articles on commercial real estate trends, projects and market insights to help you navigate the industry and stay in the loop.

October ushered in a new season, and with it the debut of our “CRE Close-Up” video series, where we bring you on a behind-the-scenes property tour and hear from developers, architects and tenants about their projects.

In Washington, D.C., Roadside Development constructed a strategically dense mixed-use neighborhood behind a historic former office headquarters. The project comprises 360,000 square feet of commercial space, including office, coworking, retail and D.C.'s first Wegmans grocery store; 690 residential rental units across six buildings; and a significant amount of green space. In this video series, the three project leads gave us an in-depth look at the development, from the site’s acquisition through four years of extremely complex construction.

Additionally this month, we looked at the success stories of entrepreneurial investors — from an aspiring developer who was urged to kickstart his portfolio by a notorious New York CRE titan, to a hotelier whose journey to buy a commercial property inspired her to shepherd other young women through the same process.

October's Top 5 Must Reads

CRE Close-Up: How a Historic Property Became a 1.8-Million-Square-Foot ‘Urban Village’

Using the slope of a hill as well as innovative and ambitious construction methods, developers seamlessly tucked a massive 1.8-million-square-foot mixed-use development behind a historic office building in Washington, D.C. In this exclusive video series, we got a behind-the-scenes look at the $715 million project that transformed a 10-acre site into an “urban village.”

Meet the Entrepreneur Championing Young Women to Become Hotel Investors

The first time Tracy Prigmore tried to buy a hotel, she didn't close the deal. The entrepreneur had been buying residential properties on the side while working full time in healthcare, but never thought buying commercial property was within her reach. Now the founder of her own investment firm, Prigmore’s journey inspired her to launch She Has a Deal, her signature program that educates, mentors and guides first-time female investors through the process of purchasing a hotel property, and gives them a chance to win $50,000 toward a deal in an annual pitch competition.

My First CRE Investment: Architect Inspired by Chance Meeting With CRE Titan

While trying to get his footing in real estate development, Atif Qadir spent a serendipitous day with New York CRE veteran MaryAnne Gilmartin, who inspired him to go out and “do [his] own thing.” He bought his first property for $120,000 and later renovated a historic, six-unit brownstone as part of his growing 15-property portfolio.

Outside Amazon HQ2, New ‘Water Park’ Dining Makes a Splash

Amazon is a catalyst for development, and the latest project benefiting from the company’s impact is a food and beverage incubator across from the forthcoming HQ2 in Arlington, Virginia. The redeveloped Water Park transformed an existing public park in a sleepy office neighborhood into a bustling outdoor food hall that supports female and minority-owned restauranteurs and aims to help make Crystal City an 18-hour city.

A Zoning Departure Leads to a Lobby That Activates the Street

Most apartment buildings make an effort to keep non-residents out of the lobby. But in a move that strayed from the norm, a Greystar property in Seattle opened up its lobby for residents and the public alike, activating the ground floor with coworking, a café, event space and other programming to create a community hub.

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