RICS Americas elected 86 new members in FY2011 - 18 members of that group were elected through the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) - since August 1. The APC requires candidates to demonstrate their technical and professional competence through written submissions and an interview. The new members represent six countries, 12 RICS chapters and eight technical pathways (including Valuation, Quantity Surveying and Geomatics) to membership.

On December 1, 2010, the United States Court of Appeals, 5th Circuit found that the 93-acre Plano, TX property (the estate) of Meyer Levy deceased, valued at approximately $25 million by appraiser Jack Friedman FRICS, the Government’s valuation expert, was accurate, dismissing the executors’ claim that the methodology used by Friedman was flawed.

Professionals in the real estate industry frequently use the word "synergy." An Internet search in early 2010 using the search string "real estate synergy" resulted in 980,000 hits on Google and 1,130,000 hits on Bing. Downloading a sample of these sites indicated that "synergy" is used primarily as a marketing concept. The concept of synergy is commonly used by industry groups such as property developers and shopping center operators. There is, however, little...

This is a guidance note. It provides advice to RICS members on aspects of their work. Where procedures are recommended for specific professional tasks, these are intended to represent 'best practice', i.e. procedures which in the opinion of RICS meet a high standard of professional competence.

In Search of the Missing "I" for BIM - Chris Bailey MRICS and Chief Cost Planner for Bovis Lend Lease LMB Inc. in New York embarks on the process for enhancing the Building Information Modeling.

Toronto Holiday Social, Calgary Chapter Developments and Toronto International Film Festival’s Bell Lightbox

On Thursday 18 November, the Southwest Chapter of RICS Americas held a breakfast meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. 20 delegates attended to hear Maria Baier, Arizona State Land Commissioner, speak about the past, present and future of local land development. Neil Shah, RICS Director of North America, provided the attendees with an update on RICS' global strategy and key initiatives to develop membership and build brand recognition in the United States. RICS Americas Southwest US Chapter is...

Don Dorchester, FRICS, Chair of RICS-Americas Valuation Council and member of RICS’ Global Valuation Professional Group, recently participated in RICS’ annual Valuation Conference in London. He presented a perspective of valuer’s responsibilities to look for and help in finding and reducing fraud in their professional activities. He also participated in a panel discussion of issues of important current interest to the profession. The following summarizes some of his panel remarks.

In the spring of 2010, the RICS Americas Eastern Canada Chapter held a seminar as part of the popular Toronto Development Series (The series features various development projects in the Greater Toronto Area. Each event highlights a specific building or topic of interest to our members), which it started in 2006. The seminar, sponsored by the Altus Group and Standard Life Financial featured a guided tour and panel discussion on the Regent Park Revitalization and Redevelopment Project.

The development of the social agenda in major projects has grown in recent years via revitalization and regeneration. Further, rebuilding projects following natural disasters have also been observed to be contributing to the social agenda. This paper reviews the adoption of revitalization projects as a means of widening the participation of local communities to the process of construction through employment and skills development schemes and the wider involvement of small- to medium-sized...

Two recent reports issued in Canada show that business owners continue to pay more than their fair share of property taxes. According to the recent report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) - The Tale of Two Tax Rates: How Ontario and its Municipalities Tax Business Properties – there is a disproportionately high property tax gap between residential and non-residential properties in more than 200 Ontario municipalities.

At the Northern California Chapters of RICS and CCIM event on November 11, 2010, featuring Mr. Luis Belmonte of Seven Hills Properties, attendees learned that the multi-family sector is the best segment to be building, buying, selling and refinancing right now. That sector is followed by industrial, office and retail.

Faithful+Gould was part of the winning team led by the architectural joint venture comprising, The Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates, Davis Brody Bond Aedas and Smith Group, to design the new National Museum of African-American History & Culture for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

RICS Global Distressed Property Monitor Q3 2010 - There has been a dramatic rise in the number of countries in which real estate professionals are reporting greater interest in distressed properties, according to a global report by RICS research published today, 22 November, 2010. It also revealed that expectations for increased distressed property sales in the coming months are highest in the Republic of Ireland, US and Spain.

Andres Duany was selected for honorary membership in recognition of the vital contribution he has made to the built environment, not only in Scotland but across the world. Duany’s appointment dovetails well with the Institution’s Vision for Cities program which outlines the environmental, economic and social context in which city governments and property professionals across the globe are planning and delivering long-term infrastructure.

RICS Americas is pleased to announce the appointment of new Chairs to six RICS chapters in the United States and Canada. There are currently more than 20 RICS Chapters in the Americas region that are managed by RICS members, with support from RICS Americas staff based in New York and Toronto.

This is the unsettling question that rests in the minds of the public now that the valuation profession is being guided by a myriad of valuation standards published by multiple professional bodies. Serving the public interest is the basis of the RICS charter and also the foundation on which the RICS Americas Valuation Council was formed. The Valuation Council considers its work with assessing valuation standards to be one of the most important elements of serving the public interest.

“The new Board members will provide RICS with strategic counsel on business planning for the Americas region and support corporate strategy of the RICS worldwide organization. We are happy to welcome the accomplished new leaders who offer market intelligence from their region, insight on local market conditions and guidance on professional and ethical standards which drive RICS’ key roles,” stated Matthew Bruck, RICS Americas Managing Director.

RICS Americas, the New York-based regional branch of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the world’s leading membership organization for professionals in property, land, construction and related environmental issues, has announced its new partnership with the University of Wisconsin’s James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate and the UW School of Business. RICS offers university partnership and accreditation to an elite group representing the forefront of the property profession....

RICS Americas, the New York-based regional branch of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the world’s leading professional body for valuers across all asset classes, announced today that it has become the first International Sponsor of The Appraisal Foundation. "This is a major step toward closer collaboration among the world's leading valuation standards organizations. Together, we continue to demonstrate that valuation is a robust profession, capable of speaking to issues...

Property markets in the more dynamic economies of South America, Asia and Eastern Europe are outperforming those in the United Kingdom and Eurozone, according to the RICS Global Commercial Property Survey for the second quarter.

Marc Thompson predicts that real estate investors will experience weakness in income property prices over the next five years due to the long process of clearing the market of distressed and foreclosed real estate debt. Most banks with large real estate loan positions on its balance sheets will be managing their existing positions in real estate collateralized loans.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Americas has announced the promotion of Jacob Opadeyi to a Fellow of the organization. As a FRICS, Prof Opadeyi has demonstrated significant career achievement in his field, showing leadership and a commitment to the RICS code in all his work.

RICS Americas is pleased to announce the upgrade of 13 qualified Members (MRICS) to RICS Fellowship (FRICS) status since April 2010. Most MRICS are eligible to apply for Fellowship as soon as they are elected.

The Commercial Division of the National Association of REALTORS® is offering a webinar entitled, Commercial Real Estate and the Current Environmental Crisis: Oil, Wind, Water and Air presented by Frank Parker, FRICS, CRE, Esq. He is a Professor of Real Estate (MBA) in The Carroll School of Management at Boston College. He previously also was an Adjunct Professor at Boston College Law School.