In our latest roundup, AI creates new real estate play for VCs, Wall Street sells more rental homes, builders capitalize on flood of water projects and more!
Urban Digital Twins: How Virtual Cities Could Help Build Smarter Cities
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Traffic congestion, endless construction, flooded streets and power outages. For city leaders and residents alike, these disruptions are simply part of daily urban life. But an emerging tool, known as the urban digital twin, could help cities anticipate problems before they occur by allowing planners to simulate responses, stress-test infrastructure, and evaluate decisions before implementing them in the real world.
DOI Finalizes Long-Awaited Modernization of Type A Natural Resource Damage Assessment Regulations
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For nearly three decades, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) simplified “Type A” Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) regulations were available more in theory than in practice, constrained by dated models, narrow geographic applicability and a $100,000 cap that rarely matched the economics of modern environmental claims. DOI has now finalized revisions to the Type A natural resource damages assessment procedures under 43 C.F.R. Part 11 for hazardous substance releases under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA), with the final rule published in the Federal Register on July 13, 2026 and scheduled to become effective August 12, 2026.
Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (7/15/26) – The World Cup’s Effect on Commercial Real Estate, Megadeals Lift CRE Sales and Algorithmic Pricing Lawsuits Continue
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In our latest roundup, DOT earmarks $1.73B in BUILD grants, federal housing bill becomes law, data center surge cools off, and more!
Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (7/8/26) – Data Centers Negotiate Flexibility for Speed, Hotel Deal Activities Focus on Luxury, and DC Sues Apartment Owners
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In our latest roundup, rail projects gain steam across the U.S., AI optimizes building operations, a modular approach speeds data center construction, and more!
FERC Issues Show-Cause Orders: Impacts on California and Other Regional Power Markets
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At an open meeting on June 18, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued show-cause orders under Section 206 of the Federal Power Act to the six FERC-jurisdictional RTOs/ISOs—PJM Interconnection, ISO New England, Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Southwest Power Pool, New York Independent System Operator and California Independent System Operator—along with their transmission owners (TOs), directing each region and the TOs to justify or revise tariff provisions governing how data centers and other large loads connect to and receive transmission service from the grid. These show-cause orders will impact several power markets across the country, including California.
Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (6/24/26) – HUD to Fund AI Grants, Luxury Hotel Deal Investment Activity to Surge, ESPCs to Fund Energy and Infrastructure Improvements
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In our latest roundup, data centers are exposed to climate change, commercial tenant sues CoStar, cities see opportunities in emerging sports markets, and more!
A Customized Approach to Data Center Construction
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Data center construction projects are, to put it mildly, distinct. They differ from traditional construction in a host of manners, and are particularly distinctive because the value of the facility depends on unique measures of performance. A center that cannot meet uptime, cooling, redundancy or connectivity standards will not achieve its mission, whether or not the structure itself meets standard industry contract-form “substantial completion” or “mechanical completion” definitions. Continue Reading ›
Water Reuse Emerges as a Critical Strategy for Data Center Development
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As demand for data centers continues to accelerate, water availability is emerging as a critical factor in project development and long-term operations. Although power supply and transmission access have historically dominated siting discussions, increasing water constraints in many regions are placing greater focus on the substantial volumes of water required to support data center cooling systems. As we covered previously, data centers are frequently located in areas already experiencing water stress and require substantial volumes of water to operate—roughly 228 billion gallons in 2023 in the United States alone—with water use projected to increase by up to 170% by 2030.
Data Center Growth Brings Water Use into Sharper Focus in Texas (UPDATE)
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As data center development continues to expand—driven by demand for artificial intelligence, cloud computing and other digital infrastructure—the use and availability of water have emerged as a key consideration. As discussed in our prior article, the scale of water use associated with large data center operations is drawing increasing scrutiny as a primary policy concern for data centers. While factors such as the size of the facility, the design of its cooling system and local climate conditions will affect the water volumes necessary for operations, large data centers may require as much as five million gallons a day, comparable to the municipal demand of smaller cities. As a result, water sourcing and reuse are becoming central to both operators and local, state and federal government officials tasked with regulating and legislating on these issues.