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WASHINGTON, D.C. — After beginning the year with a decline, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) has posted three consecutive months of increasing demand for design activity at architecture firms. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the April ABI score was 50.6, down from the mark of 51.9 in March but still in the positive territory. The score reflects an increase in design activity, with any score above 50 indicating an increase in billings. A barometer of future non-residential construction activity, the ABI reflects the roughly nine- to 12-month lead time between architecture billings and construction spending. The index is produced by The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Economics & Market Research Group. The score is tabulated based on a monthly survey sent to a panel of AIA member-owned architecture firms. The design contracts index jumped from 51.8 in March to 54.3 in April. The metric tracks trends in the dollar volume of signed design contracts, with any score above 50 reflecting a growing value of the design contracts signed by AIA member-owned firms. Because the design contracts index functions as an early indicator of construction contract awards, Kermit Baker, AIA’s chief economist, is confident that the growth in the …

The United States devotes a lot of land to parking, with nearly 500 million parking spaces nationwide. That equates to around 4 million acres or 6,000 square miles of surface parking — an amount of space roughly equal to the land area of Hawaii.  With about 250 million cars on the roads today, that’s more than 700 square feet or two surface parking spaces for every single car.  It probably doesn’t seem like it when you are circling the block for the tenth time looking for that perfect space, but trust me — we have plenty of parking in this country. Remember, that’s just surface parking — nothing above or below those spaces.  It doesn’t account for parking structures, mixed-use projects or garages attached to suburban single-family homes across the U.S. If those are added, the total spaces skyrockets into the billions by some estimates. It is no mystery how we got here. The growth patterns of the United States are well documented. The sprawling development of most American cities has solidified the dependence on the automobile, with cars and roads claiming more and more real estate. This, in turn, continues to spread development out further, which fosters the need …

LAS VEGAS — This is a “Rodney Dangerfield recovery,” declares Dr. Ben Bernanke, former chairman of the Federal Reserve. Much like the late comedian, it gets no respect. Referred to by President Barack Obama as “the epitome of calm,” the 14th chairman of the Federal Reserve shared his insights during a one-on-one interview with Marcus & Millichap’s new CEO, Hessam Nadji, as part of the brokerage firm’s 18th annual Retail Trends program at the Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel early Monday evening. The program was held in conjunction with the International Council of Shopping Centers’ (ICSC) RECon event, the marquee convention in the shopping center industry. This year the convention attracted 36,000 registered attendees, up from 35,000 a year ago and a post-recession high. The annual convention is a wall-to-wall networking and dealmaking event with educational sessions mixed in. “In some dimensions it has been a strong recovery, in others it has been disappointing,” says Bernanke, who served as Fed chairman from February 2006 through January 2014. The Upside U.S. employers have added 15 million jobs over the past seven years, says Bernanke triumphantly before rattling off some other positive economic indicators. The unemployment rate is down to 5 percent, housing …