WASHINGTON, DC—The US Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board have resolved a key sticking point as they work to establish a converged standard for lease accounting: how to account for lease expenses. Earlier this month, the boards opted for a two-method strategy depending on the type of lease—i.e. whether the lease involves the transfer of ownership rights or transfer of right-of-use.

WASHINGTON, DC—It's no secret that the federal government is clamping down on the space its agencies use. A recent memo from Jeffrey Zients, acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, to the heads of the executive branch agencies, reiterates that view. According to the May 11 memorandum, an expansion to new federal building space that increases an agency's total square footage of civilian property must be offset through consolidation, co-location or disposal of space from that agency's inventory.

WASHINGTON, DC—During the recession, lowincome housing development and financing—like all commercial real estate projects— went into hibernation. Demand was there, but the Treasury Department's tax credit program that funds many of these projects was not being used much, largely because firms did not have robust profits to offset with the credits. With the recession over, all that is changing—just in time to face another, perhaps fatal challenge: Congress and its army of budget-cutters.

WASHINGTON, DC—A key concern for industry firms is the looming changes to how they account for leases. The International Accounting Standards Board and the US Financial Standards Board have worked—or rather, struggled—to converge their two respective lease accounting standards, and so far the proposals have been less than pleasing to the industry.

Last year, as executives at StarPoint Properties considered the purchase of Parkview Terrace, an apartment building in Los Angeles, many factors went into the $79-million purchase price it would eventually pay. This included the terminal cap rate—the cap rate the building would trade at if StarPoint were to sell it within the next five years. And that number was? An eyepopping—in some people's opinion—100 to 150 basis points higher than today's.

Rockrose Development played a game of chicken—a calculated game of chicken—as it negotiated for its latest buy in the Washington, DC area this spring, eventually scooping up a CBD office asset, 1776 Eye St. NW, for $119.6 million. The asking price had been $140 million, but between contract and closing, a fortuitous (for Rockrose) event happened: the main tenant, Nuclear Energy Institute, decamped, opening up a 50,000--square-foot hole.

WASHINGTON, DC—In late March, the US Supreme Court began hearings on arguments over whether or not the health-care law passed in 2010 is constitutional. The three-day marathon of arguments and counter arguments will then be followed by the Supreme Court's decision, expected sometime in June.

The major markets in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic showed slow, steady growth in 2011, but the dual impacts of the upcoming election and uncertainty on Wall Street remain unknown, despite improving labor market fundamentals. Although the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.3%, the economy added 227,000 positions to US payrolls in February, making it the third consecutive month in which more than 200,000 jobs have been added—a sign of growing health for the economy.