Friends on the industrial side of the shopping aisle often tell me that industrial is the new retail, but anyone who knows retail knows that retail is constantly changing, and it will always be the new retail. Whether retail is red hot or in a blue state, retailers bring us together, meet the challenges of change, and unite parties for the optimal shopping experiences. Retail stores certainly had a rough year in 2020 and continue to have challenges. The pandemic has been the most disruptive force retail stores have faced in decades, and it accelerated trends that were already in motion—most notably, online shopping. This trend was hugely propelled by a behavioral shift of working from home and doing almost everything there. E-commerce represented about 1 percent of retail sales in 2000; it grew over the next two decades to account for more than 10 percent by the end of 2019. One year and one pandemic later, online now represents nearly 20 percent of all retail sales today. This clearly accelerated the failure of weak businesses and served as a growth catalyst for new ones. The number of chains went bankrupt more than doubled from 23 to over 50, leading to 25,000-plus stores closing nationwide. More than 10,000 restaurants closed in Texas alone, and 4 million square feet of local retail space became available in North Texas. Still, 80 percent of all retail sales are in stores, and shopping centers are not going away—by a long shot. The consumer wants and has the capacity to shop, how, when, and where they want, and many of their purchases—particularly replenishment items—will continue to occur through the internet. However, the store’s role will remain central to the shopping experience, the building of brands, consultation, and social interaction. Provided, of course, that the retailer or shopping center continues to deliver a great experience. Click to read more at www.dmagazine.com.

Acquisition brings together a leading site for homebuying with a leading site for rental listings

SEATTLE and ATLANTA, Feb. 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — (NASDAQ: RDFN) — Redfin (www.redfin.com) has entered into an agreement to acquire RentPath (www.rentpath.com), the Atlanta-based owner of ApartmentGuide.com, Rent.com, and Rentals.com, for $608 million in cash. The acquisition will bring together a leading site for buying a home with a leading site for renting a home, giving anyone trying to move a complete view of her options. “RentPath has more than 20,000 apartment buildings on its rental websites, and grew its traffic more than 25% last year,” said Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman. “We can almost double that audience, as one in five of Redfin.com’s 40+ million monthly visitors also wants to see homes for rent. Together with RentPath, we can create an online destination for every North American to find a home.” “We are energized by the transformational potential of this combination to help more consumers find the right home and help property managers find residents,” said Dhiren Fonseca, RentPath’s CEO. “RentPath’s customers experienced all-time highs in traffic and leads from us last year and our value proposition to multifamily property managers has never been better. By acquiring RentPath, Redfin will be as committed as we are to the rental market. As part of the Redfin family, our platform will be well positioned to lead the market in the quality and value of our products, while giving our current and future customers access to many more high-intent renters through Redfin’s extensive network.” Redfin, the technology-powered real estate brokerage, operates the #1 nationwide brokerage search site. The company uses a combination of local real estate agents and technology to make it easier, faster and less costly to buy or sell a home. Click to read more at www.investors.redfin.com.

The massive winter storm that barreled through the mid-section of the United States and across the South in mid-February, hitting Texas particularly hard, will generate billions in insured losses, according to commentary by Moody’s Investors Services. The storm, which has been dubbed Winter Storm Uri, brought “snow, ice and some of the coldest temperatures in decades, particularly in Texas and across the Southern U.S.” over the Valentine’s Day weekend, extending into President’s Day on Feb. 15 and throughout the following week. Millions were left without power, and in many cases water, from the storm which has also been attributed to dozens of deaths. “We expect insured losses for US P&C insurers to total in the billions of dollars, with claims from homeowners, commercial property, and auto lines of business,” Moody’s said in its report. The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) has said the storm “may be the costliest winter weather event in the state’s history.” Hundreds of thousands of claims are expected as a result of the storm, according to ICT spokesperson Camille Garcia. The Independent Insurance Agents of Texas said in a statement on its website that it “is expected to be the largest insurance claim event in Texas history.” Click to read more at www.insurancejournal.com.

When it comes to high-speed rail in the U.S., the California High-Speed Rail Authority gets a lot of attention in the press.

This is due in part to the fact that the CHSRA is a government-funded project, while the other big high-speed rail project in the U.S. – the Texas Central – is privately funded. We thought it would be worthwhile to cover some of the major milestones the Texas Central reached in 2020.

Major Milestones Reached in 2020

Legal:-May 7: The 13th Court of Appeals of Texas issued a unanimous ruling confirming Texas Central’s status as a Railroad under Texas Law

Regulatory:-May 21: US Army Corps of Engineers issued its preliminary designation affirming the FRA selected route as the Least Environmentally Damaging Proposed Alternative (LEDPA), agreeing with FRA on the chosen alignment- May 29: FRA released the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)- July 17: Surface Transportation Board (STB) confirmed jurisdiction over the Texas Central project-September 11: FRA issued its Rule of Particular Applicability (RPA) and Record of Decision (ROD) establishing Federal safety standards under which Texas Central Railroad will operate the high-speed train and giving environmental clearance for the selected alignment from Dallas to Houston

Land:-Texas Central has control of over 600 parcels of land needed for the project-Texas Central has control of the three station sites in Dallas, Houston and the Brazos Valley

Jobs and Impact:-Texas Central is ready to build and will proceed to construction as soon as possible to contribute to the Nation’s COVID-19 recovery-This project will create more than 17,000 direct jobs during the six years of construction and over 20,000 supply chain jobs-This project will have over $10 billion dollars in immediate economic impact across the U.S. via contracts for steel mills and other manufacturers, minority and women owned businesses, veterans, rural businesses-The project will inject an estimated $36 billion in economic benefits over its first 25 years in the form of direct spending during construction, employee payroll and spending related to the maintenance and operation of the system. Click to read more at www.rland.com.