“U.S. workers are struggling to work effectively. A confluence of factors, from economic challenges to longer workdays, is compromising the ability to get work done.” So concludes Gensler’s “2013 U.S. Workplace Survey,” which represents the responses of 2,035 randomly sampled knowledge workers worldwide. How can developers, architects, and employers better design work-places to drive innovation, improve performance, and increase satisfaction, given new workplace realities? The report offers some tantalizing suggestions.

Inland ports that serve the Midwest and other interior sections of the country should continue to experience strong growth in the future, according to Curtis Magleby, senior managing director and regional head, U.S. Capital Markets West, for Cushman & Wakefield; Michael Berry, president of Hillwood Properties; and Stephen Crosby, president of CSX Real Property, all of whom spoke at NAIOP’s I.con: The Industrial Conference in Los Angeles in June.

Over the past several years, numerous studies and articles have touted the “reshoring” of manufacturing jobs to the U.S., leading readers to believe that large numbers of net new manufacturing jobs will be created here. A recent study prepared for and funded by the NAIOP Research Foundation — written by L. Nicolas Ronderos, New York director of Regional Plan Association — concludes, however, that the net result of this reshoring trend will be stabilization of manufacturing jobs rather than net growth.

The University of Southern California’s Ross Minority Program in Real Estate — an executive education platform that equips women and minorities with critical real estate knowledge and leadership skills while also broadening options for investment in urban communities — is holding its first-ever San Diego program this fall.

Omnichannel retailing and increasing consumer demands for same-day delivery are forcing retailers to adapt their supply chain networks and store formats to remain competitive as the market is increasingly driven by e-commerce. Jones Lang LaSalle believes that retailers’ supply chains will change so much as a result of these evolving demands that they will be completely unrecognizable in just five years.

More than 500 of industrial real estate’s leaders gathered at NAIOP’s I.con: The Industrial Conference in Los Angeles on June 5 and 6 to discuss trends, debate ideas, and share news and views of the industry and where it is headed. The industrial sector continues on a strong recovery path, driven by consumption, real trade, and real GDP, according to Gene Reilly, 2013 NAIOP chairman and CEO of the Americas, Prologis, who spoke at I.con’s opening luncheon.

Following a finding of “no significant impact” by the U.S. Coast Guard in April 2013, a construction permit for the raising of the Bayonne Bridge roadway finally was issued on May 23 and welcomed by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at a press briefing in June attended by hundreds of cheering construction workers. The “Raise the Roadway” project should begin before the end of the year, according to the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

A table showing the economic contributions from the development of commercial real estate buildings from 2010-2012.