The City We Need is Affordable
Habitat III – Toward a New Urban Agenda
The City We Need is Affordable Campaign Launches
FIABCI, the International Real Estate Federation, is accepting submissions for The City We Need is Affordable campaign. The campaign is focused on identifying and sharing the best global solutions for affordable housing. Currently there is a severe shortage of moderately priced housing for those who live and work in our cities. Affordable housing will become an even greater challenge since within the next 20 years, experts predict that the global urban population will nearly double in size.
To meet this affordability challenge, FIABCI is spearheading The City We Need is Affordable campaign. “Up to now, affordable housing initiatives have been mainly undertaken by governments through subsidies, tax incentives, rezoning and allocation of extra air-rights. Our objective is to get the private sector more involved to significantly expand the number of projects and to substantially increase the supply of moderately-priced housing for rent and for sale for the people who make our cities work,” explained Danielle Grossenbacher, FIABCI World President.
FIABCI will find and promote solutions to reduce, as quickly as possible, the current imbalance between the low supply and high demand for moderately-priced housing units and:
- identify beneficial financing formulas which will convince investors and developers to take an active role in middle market and affordable housing financing;
- facilitate the sharing of knowledge in construction methods, materials, design and innovations which will reduce the time and cost of construction without sacrificing quality;
- publicize smartly planned communities practical for an urban workforce;
- showcase successful affordable developments with new architecture, design and technical innovation;
- detail best public/private partnerships;
FIABCI is calling upon global industry experts to take an active role by submitting proven ideas and projects. Submissions must be received by May 16. Please go to http://www.fiabci.org/city-we-need-is-affordable.php for detailed information. The best submissions will be showcased during FIABCI’s Urban Campaign Event which will take place during the UN Habitat III conference in Quito Ecuador on October 18.
FIABCI Scholarship Foundation Announces Grants
Nine international real estate students have been awarded grants to complete their studies by the FIABCI Scholarship Foundation. For twenty years, the Foundation has supported the next generation of cross border real estate professionals who have shown academic achievement, have clear international goals, financial need and a history of community involvement. This year’s recipients include:
• Ben Bulmash from Canada pursuing a Master’s of Science in Real Estate at NYU
• Vania Levina Setaiwan from Indonesia pursuing a Master’s in Real Estate at NYU
• Edward Seng Wei Ti from Singapore pursuing a PhD in Land Economy from Cambridge
• Hyung Joon Kim from Korea pursuing a Master’s in Real Estate at Cornell
• Young Soo Park from Korea pursuing a Master’s in Real Estate at NYU
• Wayne Day from the USA pursuing a PhD in Urban & Regional Science from Texas A&M
• Omar Hamani from Morocco pursuing a Master’s in Real Estate at NYU
• Jordi Ferre from Spain pursuing a Master’s in Construction Management at NYU
• Kevin Lim from Indonesia pursuing a Master’s in Real Estate at NYU
Grants are awarded twice each year with application deadlines March 30 and September 30. A Board of Trustees from Australia, China, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Malaysia, Taiwan and the United States reviews the applications and determines the award recipients. Click for more information.
FIABCI Focuses on the City We Need
Twenty FIABCI members participated in high-level deliberations on the future of our cities at an Urban Thinkers Campus in Dubai from January 10-11. Organized together with the Dubai Real Estate Institute and under the auspices of UN Habitat, the event brought together stakeholders from government, NGOs, business and academia to focus on how to realize 21st Century cities that are well planned, socially inclusive, economically vibrant, affordable, safe, healthy and environmentally sound. This Urban Thinkers Campus was a part of the World Urban Campaign leading up to Habitat III in Quito, Ecuador in October. 
Highlights included the energy and enthusiasm brought to the Campus by Young Urban Thinkers including elementary school and college students and break-out sessions on cities that are smart and sustainable, cities that are economically vibrant and inclusive and cities that are safe and resilient. “I am so pleased that we were able to join our colleagues from around the world in Dubai – a perfect example of the city of the future – and capitalize on a diverse group of minds to think about how we can remedy an alarming lack of affordable housing for the people that make our cities work,” noted Danielle Grossenbacher, FIABCI World President. FIABCI used this Urban Thinkers Campus to launch its The City We Need is Affordable program that will address market distortions of the last decades that have lead developers to an outsized focus on the luxury market at the expense of middle-market and low income housing.
FIABCI-USA’s Top 10 Advances in 2015
10. Working to Develop FIABCI Chapters in Ghana and Vietnam
FIABCI-USA has members in the Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, China, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Lebanon, Turkey and Vietnam. We are actively working to develop Chapters in Ghana and Vietnam. Click here for the story on the visit from members of Ghana’s Parliament.
9. Hosting the FIABCI World Council of Brokers Vision 2020 Session at the NAR Expo in San Diego
We once again had a successful booth at the NAR Expo in San Diego recruiting new members and welcoming FIABCI members from around the world. Click for photo.
8. Roosevelt University’s Wabash Building Takes the Gold
For the second year in a row, FIABCI-USA came home from the World Prix d ‘Excellence Awards with a Gold Winner. Click here for the story.
7. Trade Missions to Singapore and China
Asia was the focus for 2015 and those who joined the Trade Missions were treated to spectacular real estate developments and exclusive networking events. Click here for the story.
6. The World Congress
Always a must attend event, this year the World Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia focused on urbanization. Click here for the story.
5. Special Section in The Wall Street Journal
FIABCI-USA and the Grand Prix Awards program were featured not once, but twice in The Wall Street Journal this year! The 2014 Grand Prix Awards were announced in the March 18 edition. Click here for the November 11 Special Section announcing the 2015 Awards.
4. The Grand Prix of Real Estate Recognizes the United Nations Renovation
Now in the fourth year, the Grand Prix of Real Estate Awards program grew and has developed into a premiere real estate event. Click for the 2015 recipients.
3. The Return of the United Nations Luncheon
After many years of renovation, we were able to return to the private dinning rooms of the United Nations to hear insightful information from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Center for International Private Enterprise as well as install Ruth Kruger as FIABCI-USA President. Click here for the story.
2. New Practical Member Benefits Contribute to Your Bottom Line
Save on International Money Transfers with USForex – Click here to set up your account.
The formal FIABCI Referral Program was launched in Hawaii. Click to send a referral and receive a referral fee.
A China Broker-to-Broker site launched to bring you Chinese buyers and Past President Edward Alford closed the first deal. E-mail Secretary General Bill Endsley if you have not received your login.
1. APREC Contributes to the Smart and Sustainable Development of Honolulu
Rather than just gather to network and renew friendships, the FIABCI Asia Pacific Real Estate Congress set out to share FIABCI’s vast expertise with the local officials and developers and give back to our host city. Focusing on Transit Oriented Development and Sustainable Resort Development, the Congress succeeded on every front. Click for full report.
Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago Presented with Grand Prix Award
The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago was recognized as the best special purpose real estate development of the year by the FIABCI-USA Grand Prix of Real Estate Awards program. The state of the art facility in Chicago is the tallest children’s hospital in the world. The Grand Prix of Real Estate Awards program represents outstanding achievement in construction, design and environmental consciousness and was presented to Susan Hayes Gordon, Lurie Children’s Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing and External Affairs Officer during a breakfast and building tour on Wednesday November 11. The facility was designed to increase patient safety, accommodate new technology and to provide medical care more efficiently in a family-friendly environment. The hospital served children from all 50 states and 46 countries around the world in 2015.
“Our jury panel was impressed with this integrated facility and efforts to include the community in the planning and design process,” stated FIABCI-USA President Ruth Kruger. “There is no better symbol of excellence in real estate combined with concern for the health of our children than this beautiful new hospital.” Additional projects receiving awards were the Grand Prix of Real Estate to the United Nations Capital Master Plan in New York; the Luxury Residential Award to the Montage Residences at Kapalua Bay, Maui, HI, represented by Lisa Hatem Real Estate Company; the Residential Low-Rise Award to Ka Malanai, Kailua, HI, developed by D.R. Horton-Schuler Division; and the Residential High-Rise Award to ONE Ala Moana, Honolulu, HI, developed by HHMK Development LLC, a partnership comprised of The Howard Hughes Corporation, The MacNaughton Group and Kobayashi Group.
The Grand Prix of Real Estate is the national level qualifying round for the FIABCI World Prix d’ Excellence competition to be awarded at the 67th FIABCI World Congress in Panama City, Panama in May 2016. The Grand Prix of Real Estate is sponsored by The Wall Street Journal, Hard Rock Hotels, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Alain Pinel Realtors in San Francisco, the Honolulu Board of Realtors and Kruger and Company, Aspen, CO.
United Nations Historic Preservation Project wins the Grand Prix of Real Estate
The $2.15 Billion Capital Master Plan to renovate the United Nations Headquarters in New York was recognized as the best real estate development of the year by FIABCI-USA, the International Real Estate Federation – U.S. Chapter. The Grand Prix of Real Estate represents outstanding achievement in construction, design and environmental consciousness and was awarded as a part of the FIABCI Asia Pacific Real Estate Congress in Honolulu, HI. After almost 60 years of service as a center of world diplomacy, the United Nations and lead contractor Syska Hennessy completed its multi-year, multi-billion dollar phased Capital Master Plan last year and turned its aging compound into a more sustainable and secure, more efficient, safer and accessible facility fit for the 21st century.
Lurie Children’s Hospital Chicago
“As members of the UN Economic and Social Council, we were able to return to the refurbished UN Headquarters earlier this year to see firsthand this impressive revitalization,” stated FIABCI-USA President Ruth Kruger. “There is no better symbol of excellence in real estate and concern for the environment than this careful restoration.” Additional projects receiving awards were the Special Purpose Property Award to the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago; the Luxury Residential Award to the Montage Residences at Kapalua Bay, Maui, HI, represented by Lisa Hatem Real Estate Company; the Residential Low-Rise Award to Ka Malanai, Kailua, HI, developed by D.R. Horton-Schuler Division; and the Residential High-Rise Award to ONE Ala Moana, Honolulu, HI, developed HHMK Development LLC, a partnership comprised of Howard Hughes Corporation, The MacNaughton Group and Kobayashi Group.
Montage Kapalua Bay Maui, HI
The Grand Prix of Real Estate is the national level qualifying round for the FIABCI World Prix d’ Excellence competition to be awarded at the 67th FIABCI World Congress in Panama City, Panama in May 2016. The Grand Prix of Real Estate is sponsored by The Wall Street Journal, Hard Rock Hotels, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Alain Pinel Realtors in San Francisco, the Honolulu Board of Realtors and Kruger and Company, Aspen, CO.
FIABCI Contributes to the Smart and Sustainable Development of Honolulu
FIABCI-USA hosted the Asia Pacific Real Estate Congress (APREC) in Honolulu, HI, from September 10-12 to examine key issues for the real estate profession and the planet including the need to focus new real estate development around active transportation hubs. High level international delegates from twelve Pacific Rim countries explored the theme “Success across the Pacific – New Development Concepts” and heard compelling information from urban planning and sustainable luxury resort development experts from Australia, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and the US.
“I was very impressed by the level of transit experts FIABCI was able to bring to Honolulu and want to thank FIABCI for their contribution to our discussions on rail projects around the region”, noted Harrison Rue, TOD Administration for the City and County of Honolulu after the Asia Pacific Transit Oriented Development (TOD) Summit sponsored by Pacific Resource Partnership and Allied Builders System. “I am sure that the interactions between the FIABCI members and experts and the City officials will lead to success for our TOD projects.” The TOD Summit also included insights from Shigeru Yokoo, Senior Expert of Urban Planning, Nikken Sekkei, Ltd., Japan; Dono Boestami, President Director, Metro Rail Transit (MRT) Jakarta, Indonesia; and Dr. Lan Yuan Lim representing the Tanjong Pagar Centre by Guocoland Group, Singapore.
Delegates also heard the very latest numbers on the volumes of inbound and outbound investment in the region from Stephen G. Williams, FRICS, Executive Managing Director, Real Capital Analytics in the Key Note speech sponsored by Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Throughout the Congress architects, attorneys and developers enlightened the attendees with innovative and successful design concepts during expert panels sponsored by D.R. Horton Home Builders and Alain Pinel Realtors of San Francisco.
Social highlights include a Welcome Reception sponsored by the Honolulu Board of Realtors, the FIABCI-USA Grand Prix of Real Estate Awards dinner sponsored by The Wall Street Journal, a networking lunch sponsored by Hard Rock Hotels, the Signature International Reception co-hosted with the Hawaii International Real Estate Council and the Aloha Dinner sponsored by Leading Real Estate Companies of the World.
