Old North End green office building for sale. Solar panels, monitoring, and energy efficient upgrades make this a highly functional and modern office building for owner occupants and investors alike. Located just off the intersection of North Avenue and North Street, this property offers multiple offices as well as open space, 2 kitchenettes, large conference room, reception and waiting area, and more. Facilities combine comfortable and productive work spaces with innovative energy solutions, stimulating common areas, and colorful architecture. Separate storage shed and fenced in backyard. Town water and sewer, 2 electric meters ideal for multi-tenant occupancy. Contact Ross for information and showings, or go to www.vermontgreenoffices.com for more information on green features, photos, and more.

Click on photo for more info

With the current state of our economy, many people are taking the ‘wait and see what happens’ approach to making many investments or financial commitments.  While lines of credit require a bit more than they once did in the times of zero-down financing, it is still a great time to invest, particularly in real estate.  Low interest rates, tax incentives, from first time home buyer (here) to energy efficiency credits (here), are not only available, but accessible.  

However, many people are still left wondering what they should be looking for when investing?  As a general rule, a good investment is one meets the objectives of a specific investor or investors, regardless of what the asset is.  Any investment has certain characteristics that include liquidity, marketability, and risk, each having higher or lower degrees of importance and impact on any given investment scenario.  For instance, if you want to invest in something that has high liquidity, meaning the ability to turn your investment into cash quickly with no loss to your principle, real estate may not be the best vehicle to meet your objectives.  Further, when speaking about real estate investments, you are speaking about an equity type investment, where the investor is placed in a position of ownership.   Three characteristics that favor, and should be considered when making a real estate investment are:

Rate of Return:  Referred to as ‘Yield’, it is simply the percentage return on each dollar invested for each period invested.  This can be done on a pre-tax as well as a post-tax basis.

Tax Impact:  See above, as well as capital gains taxes on certain types of income, and tax deferments

Leverage: The use of borrowed funds to finance some of the purchase price of an investment.  The ratio of borrowed funds to total purchase price is referred to as Loan to Value ratio, or LTV.  A higher LTV means a greater amount of leverage.  Real estate transaction can often be highly leveraged when comparing them to other investment types.

Depending on what your investment objectives are, generally speaking, real estate has real potential for a high rate of return and can in many scenarios have a favorable tax impact.  This coupled with the ability to finance a significant percentage of the cost, make real estate, commercial and residential alike, a great option for a long term investing. 

What is Green Building?  According to the Vermont Green Building Network http://www.vgbn.org “Buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment–both during construction and through their operation.  Green building is a loosely defined collection of land-use, building design, construction, and operational strategies that reduce these environmental impacts. Green building practices offer an opportunity to create environmentally sound and resource-efficient buildings by using an integrated approach to design: architects, engineers, land planners, building owners and operators, and constructors get together and design the building by looking for cooperative or advantageous relationships between parts of the project.”
 
At Redstone we believe Green Building starts with selecting the right site.  Many of our projects involve reusing existing buildings and focusing investment in Vermont’s downtowns and village centers.  Working in locations with a variety of compatible uses and transportation alternatives results in fewer single occupancy vehicle miles traveled by building occupants.  After site selection, using high quality materials that will last long term, are sourced locally when possible, and do not contain harmful chemicals is critical.  Additionally, designing mechanical and electrical systems that perform efficiently reduces energy consumption and lowers a building’s carbon footprint.
 
There are a variety of excellent sources for additional information on Green Building topics and techniques.  In addition to the Vermont Green Building Network, a couple of my favorites are Environmental Building News (based in Brattleboro) http://www.buildinggreen.com/ and the U.S. Green Building Council http://www.usgbc.org/ 

Not a day goes without hearing about topics of energy efficiency, green building or capturing our renewable resources.  Who does it really benefit?  http://www.reformer.com/ci_11903551?source=most_emailed

In the $787 billion stimulus package, officially titled the, “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” commercial real estate is supported through provisions that focus on green building and energy efficiency, as well as business tax incentives. The bill provides significant funds for state energy programs, which could be used to support commercial property owners’ investment in energy efficiency upgrades and commercial property owners seeking to invest in alternative energy systems.  Read executive summary.

Our goal at Redstone is to conserve energy throughout our portfolio of properties. Energy efficiency benefits Vermonters in two ways: first, using less electricity lowers the bills of companies who take steps to reduce their power use; second, and more importantly, when statewide use goes down, it reduces electric utilities’ total costs, which would otherwise be paid by all electric customers through rates. With the help of Efficiency Vermont we have taken major steps in saving precious electric energy in several of our locations. Projects completed in 2008 are projected to save $20,840.00 in electric costs  in 2009!  For more information, including technical advice, education, rebates and other financial incentives for businesses go to www.efficiencyvermont.com.