Welcome to The Print, Blueprint's weekly curation of the most important things going on in real estate and construction technology. We hope our newsletter will keep you informed as we shine a light on the newest innovations and opportunities that exist in the built world.
- US housing starts fell 9.8% in January as builders scaled back new projects following a December surge due to rising mortgage rates, and tariffs.?(CRE Daily) A look at the 9 largest commercial construction starts of January 2025. (Construction Dive)
- Developers have more options than ever to capitalize early deal expenses.?Here's a?deep dive look into the tradeoffs of how developers cover pursuit costs.?(Thesis Driven)
- Insurance costs have shot up for certain CRE properties, with some owners seeing costs double as a percentage of revenue since 2018.?(CRE Daily)
- Hudson Yards phase two is?facing?opposition due to a lost housing element, as well as potential plans for a casino.?(Propmodo)
- Low-carbon concrete is now in use on an interstate highway and in a Manhattan skyscraper — and it’s cheap enough that it’s poised to rival the polluting version.?(Fast Company)
- Brad Hargreaves wonders: "As we stop having kids, do we still need real estate developers?"?(Thesis Driven)
- How to manage and?scale real estate repairs and?maintenance for 280,000 properties, with Lessen CRO Sean Miller. (Tangent Podcast)
- The?20for20 Annual Survey?is officially launched. Conversations with 20 senior executives?have?been reviewed?extensively, synthesized, and turned into the seventh annual summary of all things top of mind in multifamily operations and technology. (20for20)
RAISES, BUILDS AND TEARDOWNS
- CoStar?is preparing a $1.72B bid for Australian property classifieds firm Domain Holdings. (Reuters)
- PropHero, a?tech?company that harnesses artificial intelligence?and big data to identify property investment opportunities, has raised $25M in a Series A round .?(BNA)
- Following?the L.A. fires, insurtech firm Faura is seeing?more demand, and recently closed on a $3.5M?seed round.?(Commercial Observer)
- JLL?is seeing a 16% growth in revenue driven by office leasing. Strengthening CRE market fundamentals boosted the company's?business in the fourth quarter, and its executives see that momentum continuing this year.?(Bisnow)
- Barings, one of the world’s leading investment managers, has agreed to acquire Artemis Real Estate Partners, an $11B+?real estate investment firm.?(Press Release)
- Arthur Rollin has been appointed CEO France of?Casavo.?He previously worked for Masteos.?(CoStar News)
- Measurabl, the sustainability data management platform for real estate, has appointed Aislinn McCarry as Director of EMEA to support growing demand for investment-grade sustainability data across Europe. (Release)
