For more than four decades, Joyce Rey, who heads the Global Luxury Division for Coldwell Banker, has proven herself indispensable in the refined world of international luxury real estate. She is nothing short of a legend—among her celebrity clients, her professional colleagues, and the community she serves. One of the most respected names in top-tier real estate worldwide, Rey has amassed nearly $6 billion in career sales. With a dazzling list of accolades, awards, and sales records, she is known, most of all, for her incomparable knowledge of the luxury marketplace, her acute ability to negotiate even the most complex transactions, and her particular talent for putting clients at ease.

Recently, Joyce talked with Haute Residence about the Beverly Hills market and where she sees real estate trends going in the future.

Haute Residence: What is unique about your market?

Joyce Rey: What makes Beverly Hills unique is that it almost exclusively deals with luxury homes, and I have been involved in this luxury segment of Beverly Hills my entire career. I have, on several occasions, sold the most expensive house in the United States, and in 1979, I started the first division in the world to only handle million-dollar houses. In today's market that doesn't seem that impressive but back then no one could believe there was a company only handling million-dollar houses. It was very exciting and made news around the world. I would say that's the single most unique part of the market I deal with, that the geographic area lends itself to these beautiful estate properties.

670 Hot Springs Road, Montecito, CA 93108

HR: What kind of trends have you been seeing recently in the market? Has COVID affected the market?

JR: The first trend improved our market. All of a sudden the household became the focus of people’s lives because they were living in their homes all day long and doing their work from home. I actually predicted that when COVID first hit and we had the first lockdown. I would say the prevailing thought among realtors was that we were going to have a tough time and that we wouldn't be able to sell houses during the pandemic but I tried to look for the silver linings. The first was that there was no traffic on the roads. I thought that was fantastic! I could always get to my appointments on time! Secondly, I looked at my own situation and I never used to spend any time in my house during the day unless I was sick. I was out and about all day long and then I would go out in the evenings, so I was largely in my house sleeping. All of a sudden I was locked up in my house for three weeks and I’m thinking it’s not just me who's looking around their house and realizing how important it is and the things I could be doing with it… this is going to be prevalent amongst everyone. They're going to want to have a larger place to live, a home office, a gym, an outdoor area, etc.

HR: Are there any other trends that have been happening recently now that we’re beginning to come out of COVID?

JR: Well we’re coming out of COVID but we’re coming into a difficult time in the economy with inflation hanging over our heads. Typically, real estate does well in times of inflation, though one concern, of course, is interest rates. Usually, the federal government will raise interest rates to tamper down inflation, so it’s kind of a catch-22. Another thing is the luxury market is the strongest it's ever been, presumably because people are searching for safe places to put their money and traditionally real estate is one of the safest. Especially if you’re spending more time in your home, what better place is there to have part of your savings than in your personal residence?

9152 Janice Pl, Beverly Hills, CA 90210

HR: What do you see happening in the future for your market?

JR: Most people would say that there has to be hills and valleys and since we’ve been on a 10-year up-trend there could be cloudy skies ahead, but I just don't see any indication of that in the marketplace. People are generally optimistic right now, though it has been harder for developers to find projects because the prices are high. We are in a seller’s market, so it’s hard for them to find projects where they can see a profit at the end. That certainly is problematic, though ultimately that means less supply, and less supply means rising prices, so right now most people are thinking that 2022 is going to be a favorable year for real estate—especially for luxury real estate.

Joyce Rey is the exclusive agent representing the Beverly Hills, California real estate market as a member of the Haute Residence Real Estate Network. View all of her listings here. For more information, please contact Joyce Rey at 310-291-6646 or joyce@joycerey.com.

The post Beverly Hills’ Top Realtor Joyce Rey Thinks 2022 Will Be A Favorable Year For Luxury Real Estate appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.

Editor’s Note: Haute Designer Hafsa Burt has been practicing architecture for 22 years. She has an undergraduate degree and a professional Master of Architecture from the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD). Burt has been running her own studio, hb+a Architects since 2006. Her portfolio includes work at the San Francisco Airport, institutional buildings, multifamily buildings, hospitality, retail, medical office buildings, and custom single-family homes.

She also founded a development arm for the firm called Box Lab which is focused on active research and development in product and space design and zero energy/zero carbon buildings. A passionate environmentalist, Burt adopted the 2030 challenge a decade ago and is a huge proponent of high-performance buildings. Her focus includes eliminating toxins with indoor air quality as a specialty. She actively speaks on the topic of indoor air quality as it relates to the practice of architecture and is an industry expert on “Healthy Building Practices”.

Here, she talked with Haute Design about her architecture firm, favorite design projects, and her sustainability and environmental goals for the future. 

11 luxury townhomes at Stonebrae golf community

Photo Credit: hb+a Architects

How did you get started in design?

I come from a family who, despite having advanced degrees in science, were creative and have relatives who are also engineers. Growing up, conversations were about creativity, problem-solving, and theories, and so it was a very creative and intellectual household. There was a lot of importance given to academics. I was particularly interested in physics, and in high school, I also got interested in the arts, specifically sculpture. Architecture just seemed like a natural fit, given those interests and my background growing up.

Tell us a little bit more about hb+a Architects as well as Box Lab.

I worked for larger companies before I started the design studio. It was a natural next chapter once I got my license. Most of my colleagues that were starting their studios were doing smaller jobs, but right from the beginning I started collaborating on institutional projects with other architects. So that led to projects such as working on the San Francisco Airport, and other institutional work, that really helped the business develop.

The idea for Box Lab came because I've always been interested in real estate development. Sometimes your ideas get kind of squished when you're working for clients, because it's their vision, and it's your job to make their vision become a reality. With Box Lab, I can put my own visions out there specifically as they relate to environmental sustainability. Zero carbon or carbon neutrality has been a focus of mine for 20 plus years, and most projects just address what's needed by local mandates. I thought there was a need to develop actual zero carbon prototypes. It took a while, but it came about in 2019, and since then, we've done a few projects.

Mei Apartments in San Leandro, CA

Photo Credit: hb+a Architects

What have been some of your favorite design projects that you've worked on so far?

I would say different projects have different favorite moments. For instance, in the single-family residence for Box Lab, we set out pretty ambitious goals for carbon neutrality and zero energy, and also construction efficiency. These goals were met very successfully. 

I also did a retail store for a client way early on when I had just started the studio, and their budget was extremely strapped, but the owner had this unique personality and I wanted to give it a unique flavor without burning her budget. It was a good exercise in terms of finding materials and objects and turning them into fixtures for her retail store to give it its own individual character. 

What would you say are some of the biggest accomplishments that your firm has accomplished so far?

I think it's a work in progress. I do like the fact that for just starting the studio in 2006, we were able to scale to much larger projects. That's a big one. We also are focused on carbon neutrality and zero energy, and we've kind of pioneered that. We also started the discussion of healthy buildings and indoor air roughly a decade before the pandemic. These are some of the things that I would say I'm proud of because we were ahead of the time. Everybody's talking about climate initiatives right now because it's so crucial for the industry, but for 20 plus years that's been our focus, we're not just trend-driven. It's a larger philosophy in terms of how buildings are built. I am proud of having done thoughtful work embedded in environmental and social awareness throughout my career instead of being trend-driven.

21 unit mixed-use project in Oakland, CA

Photo Credit: hb+a Architects

What do you see for the future of your company and the industry in general?

Based on what the scientists are telling us, we have to reduce the greenhouse gases all over the world by 65% in the next nine years, and that's a pretty strong deadline. I'm hoping that that's where the industry would move. There is a bigger sense of urgency than, say, 20 years ago when we were talking about it. Some people may be caught by surprise in 2030 when it's too late, but ideally, that's where the industry is moving. 

As for us, we're just going to continue on the innovation path, and keep experimenting and keep looking at how we can innovate products, furniture, fixtures, or equipment and systems for energy efficiency and carbon neutrality so a building has minimal impact on the planet and its people. Social equity is going to be very important. For instance, in a multi-family project, conversations will be about inclusivity. There's a lot at play and I think we will see it more and more in the industry.

The post An Interview With Top San Francisco Designer Hafsa Burt Of hb+a Architects appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.

Editor's Note: Hafsa Burt has been practicing architecture for 21 years. Burt has been running her own studio, hb+a Architects since 2009. She also founded a development arm for the firm called Box Lab which is focused on active research and development in product and space design and zero energy/zero carbon buildings. An environmentalist, Burt adopted the 2030 challenge a decade ago and is a huge proponent of high-performance buildings. Her focus includes eliminating toxins with indoor air quality as a specialty. She actively speaks on the topic of indoor air quality as it relates to the practice of architecture and is an industry expert on “Healthy Building Practices”.

Today she is sharing her design process on her project Box Factory.

Photo Credit: Branded Content Media, Doug Birnbaum

The project is a prefabricated, zero energy/zero carbon single-family residence of 1750 sq. ft. The intent was to explore construction efficiencies and produce a project resilient to climate emergencies. I, as the architect, set ambitious goals upfront to achieve a truly off-grid project that relies only on renewable energy for all its functions. The project is a zero energy, zero carbon home with R-50 insulation to further conserve energy. Ahead of electrification mandates in California, the project proves to be a successful, working example of electrification not dependent on fossil fuels.

Photo Credit: Branded Content Media, Doug Birnbaum

The interior explores minimalist architectural form to inspire through light and color, its relationship to the land, and sweeping views. The design focus is on space and resource preservation that grasps a visitor as soon as they enter the home.

Photo Credit: Branded Content Media, Doug Birnbaum

The site’s ecosystem is also preserved and most of the 9 acres remain pervious and welcome to wildlife. The topography was used to the fullest for drainage, views, and orientation. An existing creek on the site has also been left untouched. The project has a patent pending for its unique custom features and has been customized to the site’s unique characteristics for optimum sustainability. An important goal of the project was to make use of prefabricated efficiencies to significantly reduce construction time and waste. The project beat all its goals. Prefabricated elements have been greatly customized for beauty, efficiency, and sustainability.

Photo Credit: Branded Content Media, Doug Birnbaum

hb+a Architects’ motto is “Zero (energy/carbon) is everything” and for the past 20 years, explorations into environmental sustainability, Indoor Air quality, and the health of the planet and its people have been the firm’s prime focus. With sweeping views, the project serves as a retreat for industry peers and climate activists.

The post Haute Designer Hafsa Burt On Her Zero Energy/Zero Carbon Project – Box Factory appeared first on Haute Residence by Haute Living.