Happy Monday!
Welcome back to the best corner of the internet for folks thinking about how the innovation economy changes our cities across the world. š š©āš»
A few notes before we get going:Ā Last Thursday, I teased some updates, and I have more details to share this morning!
To take the work we're doing here across the newsletter, podcast, and conversations behind the scenes, the UT team is working with partners who areĀ expertsĀ on building online communities and are teaching me, a media, sort of techie guy, how to (hopefully š) create a sustainable business off of the work we've started here.
Getting to accelerate many of the plans I had for Urban Tech for the next decade, which will now happen over the next three months, is incredibly exciting.Ā
We are still finalizing a few details, so I don't want to say anything too soon, but on Urban Tech Thursday, I should be able to give the first ~good~ sneak peek at what's to come.
IĀ promise this all means the product is only about to get better, and I'm pumped you're joining for the ride. Truly, Urban Tech is the coolest work that I've ever done ā so I'm especially thankful for all of you early members who helped me figure out how big this product and space can be.
Enough of our updates; let's get to the updates that you come here for!
Last Mondayās most popular stories:
š„ The New York Times: Opinion | Thereās One Big Problem With Electric Cars
š„TechCrunch: Olive offers a more sustainable e-commerce experience ā TechCrunch
š„ Streetsblog: The Bike Parking Revolution is Here (With Your Help)!
Urban Tech Archives:
šĀ Podcast:Ā Exploring The Rise of āNomad Citiesā
šĀ Newsletter:Ā Interview w/ Alex Nicoll, Business Insider Real Estate Tech Reporter
šĀ Podcast:Ā Interview with Katie Stevens, Lime's Global Head of Policy, on how bikes and scooters help people navigate cities
Essential City + Tech Stories: 3.1.21
The Real Deal: CBRE Acquires 35% Stake in Industrious
Glossy: California's congested ports expose the root problem of shipping delays
Axios Re:Cap: DoorDash CEO Tony Xu on his company's post-pandemic future
The San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area cities want to end single-family home zoning, but will it create more housing?
The Real Deal: CBRE Acquires 35% Stake in Industrious
From The Real Deal National Reporting Team (news first reported by Gillian Tan from Bloomberg):
CBRE Group has acquired a 35 percent stake in Industrious ahead of the flex-office providerās possible 2021 IPO.
āWe are big believers in the flexible workspace arena and see a tremendous opportunity,ā CBRE CEO Bob Sulentic said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
The investment makes CBRE the largest shareholder in Industrious, and itās not done yet: The real estate giant plans to buy another 5 percent stake in the company in the next few weeks, Sulentic saidā¦..
The deal values Industrious at more than $600 million, a person with knowledge of the matter told the publication. Sulentic and Emma Giamartino, CBREās global chief investment officer, are joining Industriousā board.
Industrious co-founder and CEO Jamie Hodari said the firmās focus on customer service and its business model based on management agreements with landlords, rather than traditional leases, have been validatedā¦.
Industrious has toldĀ The Real DealĀ that the company plans to go public later this year or early 2021.
Outstanding UT question: As American cities begin to reopen and workers embark back to the offices and their dead desk plants, will there be a massive revolution for flex commercial office providers?
My first inclination is to say that sounds right at face value.
Glossy: California's congested ports expose the root problem of shipping delays
FromĀ Danny ParisiĀ atĀ Glossy, which has amazing stories on how technology is modernizing the fashion and luxury industries ā which are big industries for many cities!
Brands and retailers across the U.S., along with UPS and FedEx, struggled with a surge of e-commerce orders over the holidays, and theĀ logistical strain of shipping millions of packagesĀ at once. Despite being well past Christmas, those problems persist. But the root of shipping problems lies well before any actual orders are made. Ports in California where over a million cargo shipments are processed every year have been backed up for months, with no slowdownĀ in imports and a growing backlog of cargo to dig through.Ā
Fixing that problem will take a coordinated effort from the federal government and brands across the country, according to Port of Los Angeles executive director Gene Seroka,Ā
Seroka said that, while the LA portās overall import volume for 2020 was only 1% higher than 2019, that includes a four month period between February and May when imports virtually halted. The second half of 2020 saw 908,000 shipments processed per month, an increase of more than 50% from the first half of the year. Over Christmas, the Port of Los AngelesĀ took in 94% more imports than the previous year.
Axios Re:Cap: DoorDash CEO Tony Xu on his company's post-pandemic future
If youāre looking for a good startups, VC, finance podcast, be sure to addĀ Axios Re:Cap, hosted byĀ Dan Primack, to your rotation.
DoorDash's business boomed in the pandemic, becoming a literal lifeline to many. Now it faces big questions as restaurants reopen.
Axios Re:CapĀ talks to CEO Tony Xu about the future of his company and the broader restaurant and e-commerce industries.
The San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area cities want to end single-family home zoning, but will it create more housing?
For the final piece today, I wanted to share a local story out ofĀ San FranciscoĀ byĀ J.K. Dineen,Ā who shares why the impact for zoning reform in The Bay is being reexamined by some folks:
But while the movement to allow multifamily buildings in zones previously limited to single-family homes is being embraced as a correction of past discriminatory policies ā Sacramento, Oregon and Minneapolis have passed such laws ā the question of whether it will actually increase housing production is a lot more complicated, according to builders and architects.
In particular, building āfourplexesā ā the four-unit building type that has been promoted as a more democratic, sustainable and affordable alternative to the single-family homes ā is challenging in fully built out urban centers such as San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley, where vacant land is scarce and expensive, construction costs high and lots are small.
Several Interesting Social PostsĀ
Thursdayās edition will be a super special edition featuring an interview with an exec from a consumer fitness app that many of you might know, which I recently learned is working with local governments worldwide to assist in better planning initiatives.
Talk soon,
āļø JT