Investor Watch: February 05, 2024

NEWS DIGEST

Nissan goes green in the UK; Essar Group expands in Gujarat; NextDC builds in Darwin, Australia; China’s INV New Material Technology to invest more than $1.4 billion in Malaysian battery separator facility; China’s Midea Group to make appliances in Egypt; Preem to invest $528 million in renewable aviation fuel production in Lysekil, Sweden.

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Marilee Utter

Tomorrow in Washington, D.C., The Brookings Institution will host a keynote from Slate staff writer Henry Grabar and a discussion with Grabar, Rachel MacCleery of the Urban Land Institute and Harriet Tregoning of the World Resources Institute’s New Urban Mobility Alliance titled “America’s parking evolution.” Grabar’s recent book “Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World” chronicles the history of automobile-centric development and features examples of communities looking to design their way toward a new paradigm. Past coverage in Site Selection has chronicled how parking can stand at the crux of many a corporate real estate location decision. “Garage Culture,” published in summer 2015, featured paragons of green parking. “Navigating the Transit Project Labyrinth,” published in 2018, featured the insights of Citiventure Associates President Marilee Utter (pictured), who said one factor that can help move things forward is thinking more

creatively about parking — or rather, its lack. “I’m kind of appalled at all the parking I see built today,” Utter told us. “Part of the reason is cities are requiring it. They think new building brings congestion and therefore parking is going to solve the problem.”

Aguascalientes, Mexico; Ulsan, South Korea; Durango, Mexico

Alexis Elmore’s Site Selection Project Bulletin this week documents investments from Continental AG, Samsung SDI and Solarever culled from the Conway Projects Database.

Graphic courtesy of UPCEA

The Chronicle of Higher Education’s Goldie Blumenstyk shared in a newsletter last week this link to a new report by UPCEA and Collegis, “Unveiling the Employer’s View: An Employer-Centric Approach to Higher Education Partnerships.” Among the findings: Despite their interest in partnering with colleges and the fact that the share of employers partnering with external parties for training and professional development grew from 54% in 2022 to 68% in 2023, more than 45% of surveyed employers said colleges had never approached them to design and deliver non-degree programs.

A separate, 42-page UPCEA report cited by Blumenstyk, sponsored by Walmart and published in December, is called “Alternative Credentials: Business and Program Models.”

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Photo courtesy of NPS

After being selected last April by the National Park Service (NPS) to operate the Cottonwood Cove Resort & Marina, Guest Services, Inc. subsidiary Lake Mead Mohave Adventures (LMMA) last month signed a 25-year lease that includes an LMMA-financed redevelopment plan featuring over $10 million in improvements and new amenities. Among them will be an expansion to 120 slips, all covered; creation of 250 storage locations for boats; a redesigned RV park; remodeled employee housing; and the transition of the Trailer Village “from long-term to short-term accommodations” before the year 2043. NPS last year said the operation sees average annual revenues of approximately $4.8 million.