Apartment City

RIO DE JANEIRO ― Seven years ago, Vila Autódromo was little more than a tranquil fishing village on the edge of Jacarepagua Lagoon, next to the racetrack for which it was named. Like the hundreds of other favelas that dot Rio de Janeiro ’s landscape, it had long been neglected by the city government , and it lacked many basic public services that are standard in the fast- growing wealthier neighborhoods just across the water. But to the more than 600 families that lived there, it was home. “This was a paradise,” said Luiz Cláudio Silva, who lived in Autódromo for more than 20 years. “I thought that I would live here for the rest of my life.” By the time the Rio Olympics are over, just 20 of the families who lived in Autódromo in 2009, the year the International Olympic Committee chose the city to host the games, will remain. The community, which sits less than a mile away from Rio’s Olympic Park, was crushed so that the city could build new access roads to connect Olympic venues . ...

Redevelopment efforts to save an ailing Plano mall are underway as part of a planned $1 billion investment to convert the southeast Plano properties into a multi-use development with multifamily residential , retail and entertainment projects. Dreien Opportunity Partners is spearheading the project to revitalize the Collin Creek Mall , led by CEO Sam Ware. The same company purchased J.C. Penney’s campus in the booming Legacy business area earlier this year, where the Plano- based retail giant still leases office space . Ware confirmed he has acquired about half of the 100 acres he is eyeing at Collin Creek Mall , leaving him four more parcels left to purchase. The city is not part of the negotiations between property owners, said Peter Braster, director of special projects for the city. But developers could require the approval of the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission and Plano City Council to make way for some of the more ambitious plans, including those with multifamily re...