In the News—Week of July 26 2021

Collapsed Miami condo tower wasn’t architect’s first building that toppled 

More than a decade before William Friedman, who designed the Surfside condominium that recently collapsed, had been previously suspended by Florida’s board of architecture when another structured he designed collapsed, the Real Deal reports. The publication found that the board suspended him for six months for designing structures for a Miami commercial building that toppled during Hurricane Betsy in 1965. Friedman was suspended from June 1, 1967 to Dec. 1, 1967. That was about a decade before he designed the Champlain Towers South. Friedman died at age 88 in 2018. 

California transit agency sours on electric bus fleet after fire                                     

After an electric bus manufactured by Proterra caught fire while charging, a Southern California transit agency considered taking the electric buses off the road, The Washington Free Beacon reports. The Foothill Transit agency, which serves the suburbs near the city of Los Angeles, was weighing whether the electric buses purchased in the last decade are still operable. The buses have problems operating in the heat. It is not just summer in California where the buses struggled. Proterra buses were taken off the streets in Philadelphia and Duluth, Minnesota for other reasons. 

Houston office market begins to attract more investor interest  

After a year of uncertainty, the market for Houston investment properties appears to be coming back to life, the Houston Chronicle reports. Transaction volume is running ahead of 2020, Real Capital Analytics data shows. “We’re getting double-digit offers on most of the office buildings that we’re selling right now,” JLL Managing Director Marty Hogan says. Houston has been hit not only by the pandemic but a slump for energy companies. “Houston has had its challenges over the last few years, and among some investors, it’s fallen out of favor,” says Brett Reese, a senior vice president at CP Group, a Florida firm that recently reentered the Space City market. “That means better opportunities are available for those who are (looking to buy).”