Business News Roundup, Feb. 8

For private investors interested in expanding their commercial real estate (CRE) portfolios, now is the time to act. Many properties are trading at a significant discount to their replacement costs and investors with cash to deploy are looking beyond the interest rate environment, according to JLL’s Global Capital Outlook. Over a 10-year period, private real estate investments were less volatile than many other investing options and delivered solid returns.

New Mexico has a long history with energy that began with mining and extraction. Coal was first mined in the mid-19th century. The 20th century brought the discovery of both oil and natural gas, then uranium in the 1950s. Oil derricks still pump in the Permian Basin, the most productive land in North America, but today New Mexico is also becoming a global leader in advanced renewable energy.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, math scores of 9-year-olds fell seven percentage points between 2020 and 2022. It’s clear as we navigate today’s post-pandemic educational environment, teachers and students need new tools and support. For example, many new digital learning platforms are not built to be easily accessible to students with special needs.

We are living through a huge population shift. The U. S. Census Bureau is projecting that by 2029, the number of people over the age of 65 will outnumber the number of people under the age of 18 for the first time in U. S. history. This puts pressure on many systems as our country prepares for the evolving proportion of older adults, from housing and finance to health care and other social services.

Private equity (PE) continued its holding pattern in 2023 following a challenging 2022. Against the backdrop of swiftly rising interest rates — with the Federal Reserve increasing rates 525 basis points from March 2022 to July 2023 — we continued to see sharp declines in fundraising, deployments, and realizations. As Bain & Company cites in its Global Private Equity Report 2024, last year deal value dropped by 37%, exit value fell by 44%, and 38% fewer buyout funds closed.

Navigating the complexities of the commercial construction industry requires more than technical expertise and competitive pricing. As a developer or construction manager, your success depends on choosing the right partners who have your best interest in mind. In this video, Gordon Highlander sheds light on key factors that make a significant difference when hiring general contractors.