Tomatoes fly at Colombia's Gran Tomatina Festival
Around 20,000 revellers gathered in Sutamarchán, Colombia, to throw over 45 tonnes of tomatoes at each other. The Gran Tomatina festival, now in its 15th year, is hosted to celebrate the economy of Sutamarchán, which is centred around tomato production. Mayor Miguel Andrés Rodríguez said "between 70 and 80 percent of families [in Sutamarchán] live off tomatoes. This is a tribute to them." The festival uses tomatoes which are overripe, or otherwise not suitable for consumption.
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Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Apartment developers gear up for tariffs
This story was originally published on Multifamily Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Multifamily Dive newsletter. As executives at Houston-based Camden Property Trust underwrite their apartment developments with tariffs on the horizon, they're only figuring in a 2% to 3% increase in construction costs. With the ever-changing threat of tariffs from President Donald Trump, that number may appear suspiciously low. But it's not a mistake, according to Camden CEO Ric Campo. 'The reason it's not more is that we've been to this movie before,' Campo said on the REIT's first-quarter earnings call last month. 'Under the [Trump] administration 1.0, there were tariffs and there were issues, and COVID created a lot of interesting supply chain issues, as we all know.' That tariff and pandemic experience created a practice run for apartment developers, setting them up to meet 2025's challenges. 'What a lot of folks have done, including the apartment industry and construction industry, is we have tried to get our supply chain closer to our projects, and a lot of effort has gone into getting supply chains that are not as vulnerable as Asian supply chains,' Campo said. Though those experiences have helped apartment developers plan for tariffs 2.0, there are still challenges this time around. There is a universal 10% tariff on all imports this time, and uncertainty lingers, with the timing and scale of Trump's levies remaining a moving target. Then there's the issue of legality. With the U.S. Court of International Trade striking down April's 'Liberation Day' tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China last week, questions linger about whether the trade war will end before shots are really even fired. A day later, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stayed that ruling. But even with the ground shifting beneath them, apartment developers have to plan for the worst, which includes high prices and potential shortages for the materials and products they need to complete their projects. Here is how they're preparing. Count Rene Bello, founder and CEO of Miami-based real estate investment and development firm BLDG Ventures, among those dusting off his playbook from the first Trump administration. 'Because we have had experience with this before, we're looking at retooling on some of the strategies we use,' Bello told Multifamily Dive. For Bello, preparing ahead means cutting out the middleman for price-sensitive materials. He went directly to vendors to order 75,000 square feet of flooring for an entire building, for example, six to 10 months ahead of time. 'We can buy in large quantities, well in advance,' he said. In other cases, Bello is flying to other countries to line up materials. During the winter, he met with his Colombia-based glazing manufacturer. 'We knew that we need to get ahead of that, and then we just had a very clear and honest conversation with our contractors and our suppliers about how can we effectively get on their books well in advance rather than waiting six to nine months down the pipeline and then having to absorb the full run on these tariffs,' Bello said. Bello isn't the only executive buying more than he currently needs before he needs it. Cameron Gunter, co-CEO of PEG, a Provo, Utah-based owner, operator and developer of multifamily, hospitality and build-to-rent properties, has two multifamily projects currently in development, with one in Tucson, Arizona, slated to open later this year. 'We bought a bunch of our cabinets out of China,' Gunter told Multifamily Dive. 'So we took our first shipment as we started to see this issue on tariffs. We haven't installed it, but it's all stored on property.' With Trump's May 90-day pause on Chinese tariffs to allow for time to negotiate with different countries, Gunter expects to get his second shipment before the levies kick in. 'We'll be able to get those here in the next 90 days,' he said in May. Bello isn't just ordering ahead to try to beat tariffs. He's putting his projects through a value-engineering process to avoid countries with the highest tariffs. 'We're not buying things from the Asian markets,' Bello said. 'We should see a higher pricing and tariff on those materials coming from those parts of the globe.' But so far, the cost increases haven't hit all products in the same way. 'We're seeing, on average, between 3% and 5% increases for trades like glazing, electrical [and] raw materials,' Bello said. 'With fixtures and lighting, you'll definitely see an increase between 10% and 20%. We're also seeing lead times extended.' Bello is also opening the door to American-made products, like paints and bath fixtures. In May, he was on a call with an architect deciding between two options for toilets — German-made Toto and American Standard made in the U.S. The choice was easy, even if it wasn't what he wanted. 'As much as I'd love to put in a beautiful Toto bath fixture, we said, 'Look, American Standard is American made,'' Bello said. 'We know that there won't be any tariffs implemented on those American-made fixtures. So we'll go in that direction.' PEG also builds hotels, which require it to purchase furniture, fixtures and equipment. With many of those products, the firm is sourcing from new countries. 'We shifted from China to Vietnam or Taiwan,' Gunter said. But Gunter said there are limits, specifically related to costs, to buying what is produced in America. 'We're finding some ways around it,' Gunter said. 'I don't think the answer is sourcing stuff out of the U.S., unless rents really climb or AI takes [manufacturing] jobs because it's just tough [to make the numbers work].' With about 4,500 units in annual starts, Tysons Corner, Virginia-based owner, manager and developer Middleburg Communities can lock in purchasing agreements with suppliers and vendors. So far, CEO Chris Finlay, who has seen tariffs push up costs roughly 3%, said his subcontractors are basically eating the costs of the increases as construction starts have fallen. 'Work is just more scarce now,' Finlay told Multifamily Dive. 'If you're a subcontractor, you're trying to win the business. Taking some tariff risk to win the deal is what I think a lot of people are doing.' For PEG's Gunter, the goal is to share the burden of price hikes. 'I can create contingencies where they have it as part of their [guaranteed maximum price] and we use that contingency to cover any tariffs based on the general contractor piece,' he said. 'If it goes over that, there's a responsibility. If it comes under that, there's a shared savings clause.' Still, Gunter said there are some questions about whether general contractors are willing to take those risks going forward, even if work is more scarce. However, even if subs are reluctant to eat the additional tariffs, general savings in labor prices may help developers offset the additional burden of tariffs. On AvalonBay Communities' first-quarter earnings call last month, Chief Investment Officer Matthew Birenbaum said materials costs are generally 25% to 30% of the Arlington, Virginia-based REIT's overall hard costs and 20% of total project costs. While tariffs could push overall costs by 3% to 4%, a reduction in labor prices could offset some of that. 'On those jobs we are actively bidding today, our phones are ringing off the hook with deeper bid coverage and stronger subcontractor availability than we have seen in years,' Birenbaum said. Brad Hill, CEO of Memphis-based REIT MAA, said his development team is getting the same calls. 'Given the reduction in the new starts and the supply pipeline, we're getting better pricing at the moment from many of our GCs and development partners,' he said on the REIT's first-quarter earnings call last month. 'Margins are tightening up a bit, and they're getting a little bit hungrier for new starts.'
Bloomberg
18 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Tariffs Are Thorny If You're in the Flower Business
The costs of the trade war are becoming more obvious. Take, for example, a florist who talked with Stacey Vanek Smith about the challenges of different levies on different supplies—and how he's passing them along to customers. Plus: The billionaire founder of Rocket Mortgage faces challenges of his own, and the Elon, Inc. podcast takes stock of where the 'first buddy' stands. If this email was forwarded to you, click here to sign up. Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose, unless you're talking about tariffs. In that case, an Ecuadorian rose is subject to an extra 10% charge from his suppliers, while a rose from Colombia is going to cost him about 20% more, says Jean-Pascal Lemire, owner of Jean-Pascal's Florist in Beverly Hills, California.
Medscape
a day ago
- Medscape
Funding Gaps Threaten Genomic Advances in Latin America
In Latin America, efforts to implement preventive strategies, diagnostic tools, and personalized treatment for patients with rheumatic diseases often face significant barriers. However, there have been promising developments, many of which have been driven by the growing field of genomic medicine. One such initiative is the Ibero-American Research Consortium on the Genetics of Rheumatic Diseases (IARGE-RD). The project collected more than 3000 DNA samples from patients with rheumatoid arthritis and healthy individuals across multiple countries. The aim is to reach 5000 samples by 2026. 'Obtaining genomic data from Latin American populations is crucial because it allows us to better understand the genetic and clinical characteristics of these populations. Currently, most genetic data comes from European populations, which limits the ability to extrapolate the results obtained,' said Roberto Díaz Peña, PhD in Biochemistry, principal investigator at the Health Research Institute of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, where he conducts research as a Miguel Servet Researcher affiliated with the Fundación Pública Galega de Medicina Xenómica. He also served as an associate researcher at the Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Talca, Spain, and told Medscape Spanish. The goals and vision of the IARGE-RD are detailed in an article published in The Journal of Rheumatology . The consortium aims to foster the development and implementation of precision medicine strategies to address inequities faced by patients with rheumatic diseases in Latin America. The authors emphasized that achieving this goal would require collaborative efforts in the region, involving various sectors interested in increasing the use of genomic medicine in clinical practice. Gabriela Ortiz Cruz, PhD, a specialist in genetics, is actively contributing to these efforts. She is the founder, lead researcher, and professor at the Center for Research in Genetics and Genomics, Autonomous University of Coahuila, Saltillo, Mexico. The center is based at Dr Gonzalo Valdés Valdés University Hospital of Saltillo, Saltillo, Mexico, where she has advanced research and education in genetics and genomics. Although she was not directly involved in the IARGE-RD, Ortiz Cruz emphasized the project's importance for Latin America. She noted that it addressed key regional challenges, including genomic representation, equitable access to diagnostic tools, the potential for personalized prevention and treatment, and the need for interdisciplinary collaboration. 'For me, the Ibero-American Research Consortium on the Genetics of Rheumatic Diseases represents a significant step toward equity in precision medicine and the decentralization of genetic research. It is an initiative that not only addresses scientific needs but also has the potential to transform the quality of life of people in the region,' said Ortiz Cruz. Despite its promise, the consortium faces a major obstacle: A lack of sustained funding. The initiative was launched in 2022 with the support of Chile's National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development. Initially a collaboration between Chile and Spain, the initiative grew rapidly and expanded to include contributors from other Latin American countries. Currently, healthcare professionals from a wide range of centers in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico actively collaborate in this study. The current research focuses on rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthropathies, primarily because these are the conditions for which funding has been secured. However, the consortium plans to broaden its scope to include other rheumatic diseases. 'We have financial support from Chile's National Agency for Research and Development; however, expanding the project to include other neighboring countries and additional rheumatic diseases will require more funding and an increased number of collaborations,' said Díaz Peña. According to Díaz Peña, the main challenge in this region is the lack of sufficient funding to conduct large-scale genomic studies. He emphasized that long-term financial support from research agencies, academic institutions, and private partners is essential for a project's success. Ortiz Cruz echoed this concern, pointing to lack of funding as one of the most pressing issues for research initiatives in Latin America. 'In Latin America, financial resources allocated to research are generally limited, and other areas of public health are often prioritized over genomic research. Furthermore, many genomic research projects depend on international funding, which is not always consistent, creating instability or uncertainty regarding continuity,' he said. He added that 'to overcome this obstacle, public-private partnerships could be created and government policies that prioritize health research could be promoted, while also promoting awareness campaigns about the return on investment in genomics. The latter would justify greater budget allocations.' Can Latin America Lead the Way in Genomic Medicine? Despite these challenges, Ortiz Cruz believes that Latin America is well positioned to become a global leader in genomic and precision medicine. The region's rich genetic diversity, shaped by Indigenous, African, European, and Asian ancestries, offers a unique opportunity to study genetic variants, gene-environment interactions, and disease susceptibility patterns that might not be evident in other populations. Furthermore, it is associated with a high incidence of autoimmune, metabolic, infectious, and chronic diseases. These conditions are amenable to genomic research and the extraction of specific biomarkers, with the aim of finding solutions tailored to the local needs of the population. In addition, she highlighted that the region has a growing community of researchers who are highly trained and motivated to develop innovative and relevant strategies in their environment. 'All of these aspects position Latin America as fertile ground for the advancement of genomic research. By leveraging these strengths and overcoming challenges, the region can become a global leader in precision medicine tailored to diverse populations,' said Ortiz Cruz. Ortiz Cruz urged regional leaders not to miss this opportunity and to invest in and support research projects in genomic medicine. 'This is a crucial moment to make visionary decisions that will not only transform the way we understand and treat diseases but will also leave a legacy of innovation and equity for future generations. The impact will be tangible, measurable, and transcendental for the well-being of all,' said Ortiz Cruz. Looking ahead, the IARGE-RD plans to expand its reach by 2025, inviting more countries to join and strengthening their collaborations with genomic research groups across Latin America and beyond. 'We certainly invite all clinical and basic researchers interested in expanding their knowledge of genomics applied to rheumatic diseases in Latin America to join the Ibero-American Research Consortium on the Genetics of Rheumatic Diseases. Our goal is to create a strong and diverse collaborative network,' Díaz Peña concluded. All authors reported no relevant financial relationships. Díaz Peña and Ortiz Cruz declared having no relevant financial relationships.
