There is continued focus on the impact businesses have on the environment and the communities that surround them. For Legacy Partners, this has inspired a commitment to finding ways to align investment goals with an approach to development that adopts sustainability and eco-conscious design as a guiding influence.

Real estate fundamentals may still be shaky. We may be bumping along the bottom for some time, but panelists and attendees at NAIOP’s Development ’10 conference were buoyed by renewed leasing and sales activity in some markets. Attendees also noted a clear improvement in the availability of capital – even if that capital is veering mainly to what the pros call “trophy or trauma.”

This isn’t the best of times to bring a speculative project out of the ground in most markets, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t other compelling opportunities out there. Case in point: a joint venture (JV) between Kearny Real Estate Company and TriGate Capital. The JV acquired a vacant 74,000-square-foot flex/research and development building in San Diego in a short sale and is moving forward with its repositioning.

Anything worthwhile is worth waiting for and the newly renovated La Palmera Mall is a shining example. After two years of redesign and construction, the one-million-square-foot project has emerged as a model for mall revitalization.

Vulcan Real Estate and Pacific Plaza Development LLC were named as recipients of NAIOP’s annual Sustainable Development Award, presented during a special ceremony at Development ’10: The Annual Meeting for Commercial Real Estate.