Green building movement attracting tenants
By Jim Wasserman, Sacramento Bee
Sacramento has for years outperformed much larger cities when it comes to green building construction, thanks mainly to the eco-conscious policies of state government.
Now the green trend has engulfed the private office market as well. Developers in Sacramento – and nationwide – are using sustainability as a key marketing tool in their effort to attract tenants. It’s one more selling point in a real estate climate with vacancy rates well into the double digits.
Altogether, nearly 100 commercial and institutional buildings in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties now meet either the “Energy Star” standards established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards of the U.S. Green Building Council, which designates buildings “silver,” “gold” or “platinum.”
Sacramento saw a 75% drop in new building permits. These are troubling signs, but not surprising. The end of the state’s home-price climb triggered more than just a housing slump.
“In California, so many jobs were concentrated in construction,” . “Jobs building single family homes wound up not being sustainable, and there were a lot of job losses.”
The long-term consequences of the housing crash are still playing out, and new factors that complicate a recovery keep cropping up.