City Livin'? by Brian Suiter

A confluence of concepts merged in my life recently. Traveling in Boston for the day, I was able to spend some time wandering the Prudential Center complex; an excellent project combining retail (big box and local), office, hospitality, and residential. As I traveled home that evening I listened to a Freakonomics podcast on the reoccurring “city vs. suburb” dilemma (in this instance, city won). Then during that weekend I was sent a white paper on the value of renting vs home ownership (renting won) and also battled the federal treasury with some lingering 2010 mortgage interest deduction items. Being immersed in Boston; arguably, one of the greatest intellectual urban cores in the country; reading about the value of renting; and hearing about and experiencing firsthand the home ownership incentive, my internal dialogue battled about government subsidies of the suburbs. Here I was, obviously taking the advantage of the interest deduction for a house in the burbs, yet all other signs in the past week had pointed towards the benefits of urban living. City living has been found to increase life expectancy, promote a healthy lifestyle, develop intellectual growth and entrepreneurial interest, encourage community, while concurrently consolidating density which is better for the planet (see Triumph of the City). Government programs are designed to entice us to the suburbs. Hub and spoke systems of highway transit push us further out. The American dream of home ownership is flawed if, when executed properly, renting housing is better financially. Why are we not placing national investment into inner-city infrastructure, financially incentivizing the population to rent, and encouraging programs to develop the blighted parts of our cities rather than constructing more cul-de-sacs?

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At The Feil Organization, Brian is responsible for all facets of two new retail developments that encompass 35 acres and 350 thousand square feet of leasable area with budgets that exceed $75 million, in addition to leasing oversight for 400 thousand square feet of retail assets in the southeast. Brian's expertise spans financial and site feasibility analysis; entitlement, permitting and zoning; site design and engineering; and land and air-right sales and acquisitions. You may contact Brian here.