COVID-19 Required Reading: May 2020 Edition
Below are three sets of COVID-19 focused articles, insights, and thought-provoking discussion starters. These cover residential real estate development, adjacent markets (commercial + hospitality), and macro perspectives.
I hope that these provide facts, inspiration, and a foundation for the discussions to move forward during these difficult times.
REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT
Brookings Institution
Improved design and construction decisions will play a significant part in reducing the cost of building multifamily housing. Let’s ensure that we understand the basics to improve affordability.
➤ Making apartments more affordable starts with understanding the costs of building them.
The Atlantic
Privacy at home is impossible; how do we address that going forward as working remotely is the new normal.
➤ Homes Actually Need to Be Practical Now
The Washington Post
A resident tests positive for COVID-19. Now what?
➤ "Someone in our building has it": Covid-19 fuels tensions at apartments and condos
Gensler
How do we prepare for a future of remote work?
➤ Will the Work From Home Trend Impact Residential Design?
Robb Report
Will online viewings translate to real estate transactions?
➤ Home Tours Are Going Virtual, but Is Anybody Buying?
John Burns Real Estate Consulting
Who will be moving across the United States, how soon, and why?
➤ The Great American Move
NPR (podcast)
How past health crises have shaped the design of our current bathrooms, and how the current pandemic could inspire a new wave of innovation.
➤ How Infectious Disease Shaped American Bathroom Design
ADJACENT MARKETS
AECOM
Straight talk from one of the world’s leading infrastructure experts.
➤ Why Cities Must Prepare for Future Shocks and Stresses
The New York Times
What could remote work mean for Manhattan?
➤ Manhattan Faces a Reckoning if Working From Home Becomes the Norm
Propmodo
Developments + collaborators need to focus on supply-chain awareness + management
➤ Pandemic Exposes Construction Supply Chain Vulnerability
The Points Guy
Excellent + regularly updated post explores how major hospitality + travel focused brands are adjusting their processes and physical spaces in response to COVID-19.
➤ What your hotel stay will look like in a world after coronavirus
Wall Street Journal - The Journal (podcast)
To ensure commercial + office space usage, we need to explore what that could look like and how it might feel.
➤ Welcome Back to the Office. Your Every Move Will Be Watched.
THOUGHT-PROVOKING READS
Andreessen Horowitz
We need to build, in all ways, more than ever before.
➤ Its Time to Build
Deloitte
How do we thrive in a world remade? Special thanks to Bianca Koutsakos for bringing this to my attention.
➤ The world remade by COVID-19
The Economist
We now have the courage to experiment with ideas once thought of as radical.
➤ The pandemic is liberating firms to experiment with radical new ideas
Unsplash
Images that define the new visual language of working from home.
➤ The visual language for a world at home: Unsplash April 2020 Insights Report
Four Seasons - Take the Leap (podcast)
Take the leap and remember why we travel.
➤ Explore.
Butterfly Voyage will be sharing more required reading as we continue to immerse ourselves in the many perspectives being shared during these times. Until then, we hope that some of these are helpful, and would love to hear your feedback as to why certain pieces resonated with you. Please send us a note at curious@butterflyvoyage.com
A thank you to Butterfly Voyage contributor Basma Rajper. Her valuable research, insights discussion, and support were a key part of making this piece come to life.