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Shopping center patrons and office park workers in Fairfax County, Va., have a hunger for food truck fare. But strict zoning rules–including a $16,375 fee—were making it difficult for food trucks to get the county’s permission to operate. Earlier this month, however, the county passed new rules that require only a $100 annual zoning permit, permission from property owners, and other assorted permits and licenses.

The commercial real estate industry is up in arms over a New York City Council bill that aims to change the city’s commercial lease renewal process. One effect of the proposed Small Business Jobs Survival Act would be the creation of a new city-supervised mediation program for lease renewal negotiations, which would permit landlords to decline a renewal only under certain circumstances.

A 2014 Commercial Real Estate Outlook Survey conducted by tax advisory firm KPMG shows that secondary markets are proving to be a first choice for many commercial real estate executives as the economy continues to pick up. CRE investors are looking to develop assets and deploy capital in secondary markets to generate returns.

Retailers are increasingly weaving their way through Manhattan’s Garment District, setting up shop in the neighborhood that was once very specialized and catered to the fashion industry. Now, retailers, cafes, and upscale restaurants are taking over storefronts—and landlords are hustling to invest in renovations to spaces that are of interest to retailers willing to pay top dollar.

A Bradenton, Fla., 41-year-old shopping mall was on the online auction block recently, with the winning bid ultimately reaching $33.75 million. Empty storefronts have plagued DeSoto Square Mall for years, but a new owner isn’t necessarily the answer—and there will still be uncertainty despite that winning bid.

On July 17, the Senate passed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014, extending the original Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA)—enacted in 2002 following the events of 9/11—for an additional seven years. Many CRE industry participants have been advocating for an extension of TRIA in order to provide clarity and stability with respect to terrorism risks.

The world’s largest real estate investor has kicked off a trend that’s being picked up in the CRE world. Blackstone Group LP has led a wave of investors in Indian commercial property. Blackstone representatives said that there has been rental growth in almost all markets, and tenants are seeing a huge uptake in what they do and therefore taking large spaces in India.

The e-commerce purveyor of vintage and handmade goods, Etsy, has signed a lease for a substantial amount of space in Brooklyn to set up its headquarters. The company, which was founded in New York, has chosen to set up shop in the former Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Bible-printing plants that the Kushner Cos. and its co-investors bought last year.

A new U.S. real estate forecast based on a survey of 39 of the industry’s leading economists and analysts shows that commercial property transactions are expected to rise over the next two years to levels not seen since before the recession—exceeding the volumes hit in 2006. The annual study, conducted by the Urban Land Institute and financial and accounting services firm Ernst & Young, predicts that commercial property transaction volume will reach $430 billion by 2016.

Lawmakers in California and New York are drawing attention to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), which was enacted in 2002 because the private insurance marketplace was failing to provide adequate terrorism insurance coverage following the events of 9/11.

Passage of TRIA stabilized the insurance market, helping improve the construction, real estate, and finance segments of the economy. Real estate experts say that without the government reinsurance provided under TRIA, terrorism coverage is either impossible to obtain for some owners or prohibitively expensive.