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May

05-22-13

How Changing Healthcare Delivery Will Affect Land Use

As the Affordable Care Act is implemented, both the healthcare industry and the real estate owners and developers who provide space for the delivery of healthcare services remain uncertain about the future. 30 million Americans will be newly insured and the aging population will increase demand for medical services.
05-21-13

Hutchison Calls for Energy Independence, More Businesspeople in Congress

The former Texas senator says she is optimisic about American energy indepenence by the end of this decade, but wishes more business people would run for office, as their perspective is needed on issues like Dodd-Frank, the fiscal cliff, and Obamacare.
05-21-13

Developers, Health Officials Incorporating Wellness Into Planning

Many trends have converged to create today’s epidemic of obesity and lack of physical fitness, agreed speakers at ULI’s Spring Meeting in San Diego. Real estate developers have the opportunity to contribute to a reversal of at least some of these trends by creating more healthy communities.
05-20-13

'Micro Unit' Developers See Big Future

While micro-units are coming soon to New York City, developers in Washington state and Texas are already betting on smaller units. These modern efficiencies appeal to those who value location and often don't own a car.
05-20-13

Monday's Numbers: May 20, 2013

ULI senior fellow Stephen Blank's highlights from panel discussions at ULI Spring Meeting, including an increasing flow of foreign capital into the U.S. real estate markets, increasingly competitive Euro-lending business, and the pricing of real estate debt.
05-17-13

Tech-Savvy Gen Y Wants a Shopping Experience

America’s 80-million-strong generation Y, the most tech-savvy generation yet, has not forsaken shopping in stores for online purchasing, says a new ULI report released at the Spring Meeting in San Diego.
05-16-13

Barbells of the Market: Appealing to Gen Y and Boomers

While the baby boomers and generation Y are a big piece of the puzzle, neither generation is monolithic, said panelists at the ULI Spring Meeting. Appealing to all generations may be the safest path for residential and retail developers.
05-16-13

Four Growth Strategies for Uncertain Times

Whether it comes in the form of the federal sequestration budget cuts or a new startup disrupting an entire industry, Geoff Colvin, author and senior editor of Fortune, says companies and individuals are increasingly have to do work around higher levels of uncertainty.
05-15-13

The Future of Housing Demand Is Compact, Urban, and Transit-friendly

Demand will continue to rise for infill residential development that is less car-dependent, while consumeers'desire could wane for isolated development in outlying suburbs, according to a new ULI report released at the ULI Spring Meeting in San Diego.
05-14-13

Bruce Ratner Honored by ULI New York

In April of this year, Bruce Ratner handed the leadership of Forest City Ratner Cos. over to its new CEO, MaryAnne Gilmartin. In May, ULI New York honored him as its 2013 Real Estate Legend.
05-10-13

Hong Kong Leader C.Y. Leung to Headline ULI Asia Pacific Summit

C.Y. Leung, Hong Kong’s chief executive and the founding chairman of ULI Asia Pacific, is scheduled to address attendees at the ULI Asia Pacific Summit, planned for June 4 to 6 in Shanghai.
05-10-13

Mobilize for Spring Meeting with the New ULI App

Those attending ULI’s Spring Meeting in San Diego on May 15 to 17 will find it easier to get the most out of the event thanks to a new and improved mobile app for iPads, iPhones, and other smartphones capable of browsing the web.
05-10-13

In Print: Planet of Cities

Planet of Cities sets an ambitious agenda—nothing less than formulating evidence-based rules for managing the worldwide growth of cities during the 21st century. These rules attack the central ideal of the urban planner’s conventional wisdom—the Containment or Compact City Paradigm, showing it to be unworkable and unrealistic.
05-10-13

Chicago's Transportation Planning Put Walkers, Transit First

This summer, Chicago is planning to roll out a small-sounding but seismic policy shift: From now on, in the design guidelines for every effort from major streetscape projects to minor roadside electrical work, transportation work must defer to a new “default modal hierarchy.” The pedestrian comes first.
05-07-13

Home Values Near Transit Outperform

Homes near public transit retained their value better during the recession than their counterparts in auto-dependent areas, according to a recent study. What’s impressive is the extent of it: In five metropolitan areas, residential property values performed 42 percent better on average.
05-06-13

Monday's Numbers: May 6, 2013

Insurance companies seem to be nearing lending capacity, while securitized lenders continue their comeback as more and more companies establish platforms and more and more institutional investors enjoy the relative value of “super senior” commercial mortgage-backed securities.
05-03-13

Cities Leading the Way on Sustainability

At the second New York Times Energy for Tomorrow conference, titled “Building Sustainable Cities,” panels covering topics ranging from self-driving cars to clean-tech investing in China were hosted by Times columnists, including Thomas Friedman, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Joe Nocera, and Bill Keller.
05-03-13

Public Private Partnership Outlook

How can public and private partners find a new equilibrium in a time of strained budgets? Members of ULI’s Public/Private Partnership Councils discuss trends influencing the prospects for collaboration between the public and private sectors on development.
05-03-13

ULI Spring Meeting: May 15–17 in San Diego

Registration is underway for the 2013 ULI Spring Meeting, taking place May 15 to 17 in San Diego.
05-02-13

ULX: Just Add Transit

Ten transit centers exemplify strategies for inserting new facilities and expanding existing ones in a densifying urban landscape.
05-01-13

A Public University/Private REIT Partnership in Portland

A fast-growing urban university partners with an equity REIT to add student housing—along with academic and retail space.
April

04-30-13

San Ysidro: Expanding a Critical Border Passage

San Diego is the site of one of the most ambitious and expensive public-works projects in history—a $583 million expansion and renovation of the venerable but overloaded San Ysidro Land Port of Entry.
04-29-13

Former Rose Center Fellow Tapped for Transportation

Anthony Foxx, mayor of Charlotte, N.C., has been nominated to be the next secretary for the U.S. Department of Transportation. Mayor Foxx and a team of public officials from his administration participated in the 2010-2011 class of public leaders serving as fellows for the ULI Rose Center for Public Leadership program.
04-29-13

Monday's Numbers: April 29, 2013

The National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries released its first-quarter results for the National Property Index. Returns for the quarter ended March 31 equaled 2.57 percent, composed of appreciation equal to 1.18 percent and income equal to 1.39 percent; almost the same as the prior quarter.
04-29-13

Apgar Award Winners Announced

ULI has announced the recipients of the 2013 ULI Apgar Urban Land Award, an honor that recognizes industry articles of practical value in Urban Land magazine. Selected articles from the previous calendar year – authored by Jason S. Hellendrung, principal, Urban Studio at Sasaki and Howard J. Kozloff, managing partner, Agora Partners – will both be honored next month at the ULI Spring Meeting in San Diego.
04-26-13

Making It in Mexico

Mexico is attracting developers from the United States and other nations, but not without the need for local guidance—and a willingness to take risks.
04-23-13

A U.S. Template for a Third-Millennium City

In 40 years, the U.S. population will grow 36 percent to 438 million in 2050 from 322 million today. At today’s average of 2.58 persons per household, such growth would require 44.9 million new homes. Where and how will the new American homes be built? What urban structures are to be created?
04-23-13

Comeback City, Divided City

The comeback of the urban core is a striking reversal of long-term trends. But America’s ongoing urban comeback is far from complete. The next and perhaps greater urban challenge is to extend the benefits of rejuvenating cores to a far broader swath of people and neighborhoods.
04-22-13

Monday's Numbers: April 22, 2013

Industry forecasts are normally made in January (the beginning) or July (the mid-way point) of the year. But why not get a jump on things and forecast the balance of the year as well as 2014 from the viewpoint of the end of April? ULI senior fellow Stephen Blank shares his views on the economy, real estate industry, and the state of the capital markets.
04-22-13

Imagining Land Use in 2063

How different will land use be in 50 years? While some futurists think suburban tract house and the shopping mall will have gone the way of the dinosaurs, others envision a strikingly different scenario, in which people increasingly will forsake the cities for the rural countryside living in updated, technologically advanced, and economically self-sufficient versions of the 19th-century village.
04-19-13

Civita: San Diego’s New City within the City

The Civita mixed-use development is a model for San Diego’s “City of Villages” planning strategy. But the development’s progressive ideas blazed new territory, and nearly a decade passed before the developer obtained approvals to begin construction.
04-19-13

New ULI Endowment to Explore Rental Housing

ULI has received a $300,000 gift from Carolyn and Preston Butcher to endow a series of annual forums dedicated to rental housing issues. Each forum, to be named the ULI/Carolyn and Preston Butcher Forum on Multifamily Housing, will explore aspects of the rental housing industry. The first of the annual events is planned for later this year.
04-19-13

ULI Full Members in the News (March/April)

ULI has received a $300,000 gift from Carolyn and Preston Butcher to endow a series of annual forums dedicated to rental housing issues. Each forum, to be named the ULI/Carolyn and Preston Butcher Forum on Multifamily Housing, will explore aspects of the rental housing industry. The first of the annual events is planned for later this year.
04-19-13

In Print: Sustainable Transportation Planning

Jeffrey Tumlin's book Sustainable Transportation Planning attempts to grasp in shorthand form the big picture—one that integrates motor vehicles with bicycling, transit, parking, car sharing, transit-oriented design of stations, and other considerations.
04-18-13

In Focus: LPL Financial at La Jolla Commons

Hines is undertaking the largest and most ambitious of the new net-zero energy-producing buildings in the United States—a 13-story office tower in San Diego. The 415,000-square-foot (38,555 sq m) building, slated for completion in 2014, will employ high-performance design and on-site fuel cells that will convert methane gas into electricity.
04-18-13

Untapped Market in Smaller Green Retrofits

While many "green" building techniques have become the norm for new construction, panelists at a recent ULI forum say significant opportunities exist for upgrading or retrofitting buildings with green systems and technology.
04-15-13

Monday's Numbers: April 15, 2013

Priced to perfection can easily turn into “priced to disappoint” as competition encourages investors to accept lower and lower yields as the price of entry. But our concern extends past the point of acquisition, as an investor can live with paying a little too much for a property by accepting a lesser initial return on investment.
04-15-13

Kansas State University, the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and the University of Kansas Team Wins Hines Design Competition

A joint team of graduate students representing Kansas State University, the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and the University of Kansas has been selected as the winner of the 2013 Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition. This three-university team took the $50,000 top prize with their proposed long-term development plan for a downtown Minneapolis site adjacent to the new Minnesota Vikings Stadium location.
04-12-13

CEO Perspective: From a Rendezvous in Paris

Each year, ULI’s impressive lineup of global meetings kicks off in Europe with our real estate investment and development conference, held in Paris during the winter. The 2013 event, held February 5 and 6, drew more than 500 industry leaders from 24 countries around the world—reflecting a steady increase in the geographic diversity of attendees since we started hosting the meeting 17 years ago.
04-12-13

Case Study: San Diego Central Library

Funded by the California State Library, Centre City Development, the San Diego Unified School District, and private donors the nine-story library will feature a 350-seat auditorium, three-story domed reading room, 400-seat multipurpose room, and underground parking for 250 vehicles. The sixth and seventh floors will be used as a charter high school, with its own ground-level entrance and lobby, elevators, and stairwell.
04-12-13

When Legacies Bind: How to Avoid Urban Lock-in

Just as the cities of today are living with choices made long ago, so should people be aware that today’s decisions and technologies will shape the urban spaces that serve future generations, says Steve Rayner, codirector of the Oxford Programme for the Future of Cities.
04-10-13

ULI Forecast Calls for Continued Economic Improvement

Significant improvement can be expected in both the commercial and residential real estate sectors this year and through 2015, according to ULI's semiannual forecast. Respondents expect transaction volume in commercial real estate to rise from $290 billion last year to $310 billion this year, $340 billion in 2014, and $360 billion in 2015.
04-08-13

Members in the News: Jonathan F.P. Rose

Jonathan F.P. Rose, founding co-chair of ULI's committee on Climate, Energy and Land Use, was recently profiled in the Wall Street Journal. Entitled "Developing a Social Mission," the article describes Mr. Rose's focus on affordable housing and environmentally friendly buildings, including Via Verde in the South Bronx.
04-08-13

Real Estate Business Barometer: April 2013

Multifamily commercial transactions vaulted last month, even as all other sectors declined, but buyer appetite showed overall strength. The stall in employment growth and decline in unemployment rate does raise questions.
04-08-13

Real Estate Business Barometer: April 2013

Multifamily commercial transactions vaulted last month, even as all other sectors declined, but buyer appetite showed overall strength. The stall in employment growth and decline in unemployment rate does raise questions.
04-08-13

Monday's Numbers: April 8, 2013

This week’s Trepp survey showed spreads unchanged. With an average spread of 164 basis points and ten-year U.S. Treasury bonds coming in 10 basis points, “all in” pricing of 3.5 percent or less for low loan-to-value loans is more than a little attractive from the borrower’s point of view and warranted from the lender’s perspective.
04-01-13

Monday's Numbers: April 1, 2013

Maybe it was the upcoming holiday weekend. Maybe it was worries about Cyprus’s failing financial health. Maybe it was watching the S&P 500 index reach record levels. Whatever it was, this was the quietest period we’ve seen in a very long time.
04-01-13

Is CityScan the Future of Code Enforcement?

Maybe it was the upcoming holiday weekend. Maybe it was worries about Cyprus’s failing financial health. Maybe it was watching the S&P 500 index reach record levels. Whatever it was, this was the quietest period we’ve seen in a very long time.
March

03-29-13

Top Transportation Sources to Follow on Twitter

Urban Land compiled a list of the most influential transportation infrastructure people on Twitter. This ranking—updated for the current year—includes the entity’s name and Twitter handle alongside the account’s rankings in reach, engagement, and influence.
03-29-13

Making the Pitch for Greener Building

Efforts to increase buildings’ energy efficiency have moved beyond the "low-hanging fruit" stage, said industry leaders at the 2013 Building Energy Summit held on March 26 in Washington, D.C. While progress has been made on many fronts, advocates still face challenges in convincing building owners and developers to invest in sustainability.
03-25-13

Monday's Numbers: March 25, 2013

A recent Wall Street Journal article expressed concerns by the Federal Reserve and other financial regulators about a potential deterioration in financial controls and underwriting quality for loans used to finance management buyouts, mergers and acquisitions, capital investment, and the like.
03-22-13

Colvin Sees Rapid Obsolescence As a Challenge for Builders

Geoff Colvin, longtime editor and columnist for Fortune, spoke with Urban Land in anticipation of his keynote in May at the 2013 ULI Spring Meeting in San Diego. One of the issues he sees for the built environment is adaptability to ever-changing business models.
03-18-13

Study Finds Mixed-Use Areas Safer Than Commercial Only

Neighborhoods with a mix of residences, offices and retail outlets are thought to have a host of benefits. But a new study found that commercial-only areas also had the highest crime rates when compared to similar blocks that included residences.
03-18-13

Monday's Numbers: March 18, 2013

There could be a new and sizable player in the commercial real estate mortgage business, as more than one sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is rumored to be investigating originating commercial real estate loans for its own book.
03-15-13

Providence, Rhode Island, Wins Top Honor in “Mayors Challenge”

Bloomberg Philanthropies has announced the winners of the inaugural Mayors Challenge. With more than 300 cities competing, Providence was presented the Mayors Challenge Grand Prize for Innovation and a $5 million implementation award for its cutting-edge early education initiative.
03-15-13

Keeping the Lid on D.C.: Build Better, Not Just Bigger

ULI fellow Ed McMahon makes the case for keeping the building height limit in Washington, D.C., where it is.
03-13-13

Affluence in America: What Gen Y Buys

While members of generation Y—Americans born between 1978 and 1994—have largely been set back by the economic downturn just as they entered the workforce, one report says a significant number are starting to spend big.
03-11-13

Real Estate Business Barometer: March 2013

Industrial and retail property sectors gathered steam as absorption vaulted; retail rents reversed their 4.5-year slide. Commercial property transactions calmed down following an impressive end-of-year spike, but buyer appetite otherwise showed strength.
03-11-13

Monday's Numbers: March 11, 2013

Both Fitch and Moody’s Investors Service still give the U.S. their top rating, but both have placed it on a negative outlook, effectively warning that Washington will need to address the nation's long-term debt issues in 2013 or face a downgrade.
03-07-13

Eight Qualities of Pedestrian- and Transit-Oriented Design

This is an excerpt of the book Pedestrian- & Transit-Oriented Design which operationalizes nearly a half-century of urban design theory in ways that provide practical meaning and use to urban planners, planning commissioners, city council members, developers and citizens who desire more livable environments.
03-04-13

Monday's Numbers: March 4, 2013

Last week surprised both analysts and investors, as it lacked the volatility in the capital markets that many had expected to occur as the sequestration enacted as part of the Budget Control Act of 2011 approached.
03-01-13

Which Cities Are World's Most Innovative?

The Wall Street Journal and Citi have announced that Medellín, Colombia, is the winner of the “City of the Year” competition, a global program developed in partnership with the Urban Land Institute to recognize the most innovative urban centers.
February

02-27-13

In Print: The Great Inversion and the Future of the American City

This remarkably perceptive book, written by Alan Ehrenhalt, a former executive editor of Governing magazine, not only validates a grand diagram that has been reshaping and rearranging metropolitan areas from downtowns to the exurbs, but it successfully delivers the reader to an unfolding real-life scenography.
02-26-13

ULX: Technical Beauty

Ten projects incorporate unconventional technical strategies to enhance efficiency, sustainability, and aesthetics.
02-25-13

Commission Calls for Winding Down Fannie and Freddie

A bipartisan housing commission is calling for the complete elimination of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, plus a more targeted Federal Housing Administration that returns to its roots. The panel further says it is time to recognize the country’s changing demographics by placing a stronger federal emphasis on rental housing.
02-25-13

Monday's Numbers: February 25, 2013

The Real Estate Roundtables Q1 2013 survey showed a general improvement in respondents' perception of current and future market conditions, tempered by concerns regarding budget concerns, job creation, and the prospect of increasing interest rates.
02-22-13

Warming Up to Risk

We look at risk in its many forms, whether it comes from financial markets, government policies, severe weather, changing consumer demand—or the unseen threat that creeps up while you’re planning for one of those challenges. Resilience is a competitive advantage—it’s the new, improved atmosphere that replaces a fallen sky.
02-22-13

A Note from ULI Chairman Peter S. Rummell

A nagging worry of mine is that ULI—and the industry itself—may be at risk of losing young professionals who don’t see real estate as being as appealing or as interesting as other professions. It’s ironic, because there probably has never been a more interesting time to be in real estate.
02-22-13

CEO Perspective: The ULI Matrix

ULI is starting the new year with an extraordinary expansion of our reach and influence on a global basis, an accomplishment made possible by your support of the Institute and your belief in our ability to make a positive difference.
02-21-13

Giving as Good as They Get: Zero-Energy Districts

A demonstration project in Fort Collins, Colorado, shows how to take the net-zero-energy concept into the neighborhood
02-20-13

In Print: Instant City: Life and Death in Karachi

Authored by the cohost of National Public Radio’s Morning Edition, Steve Inskeep, this story is an account of his firsthand experience reporting on the daily tremors in modern-day Karachi.
02-20-13

University Unites Uptown

A new public/private, mixed-use Uptown project unites celebrated but disparate institutions in Cleveland’s University Circle district.
02-19-13

Cities Gone Broke

Reduced revenue from the recession aggravated budget woes. How does real estate figure into cities’ recoveries post-bankruptcy?
02-19-13

Monday's Numbers: February 19, 2013

According to CoreLogic, a real estate data firm, U.S. home prices in December 2012 increased 8.3 percent as compared with a year earlier, the greatest amount since May 2006.
02-14-13

It’s Just a Game—with Real-City Issues

The designer of the new SimCity offers gamers the world.
02-13-13

How Will China’s New Leaders Handle Housing?

A campaign to cool the residential market reaches a point of inflection at a time of political transition.
02-12-13

What the Top Guns in Real Estate Finance Really Think Now

Given the turmoil and volatility in financial markets that have been reported in the daily press, participants at the ULI McCoy Symposium on Real Estate Finance were surprisingly optimistic. Their reasons: The Federal Reserve has suggested that interest rates will remain at historically low levels until at least mid-2015.
02-12-13

Minimizing Risk in an Era of Resilience

You don’t need a bunker mentality to imbue a community with resilience to the risks of nature.
02-12-13

Minimizing Risk: Springwoods Village

The vision of developer CDC Houston, Springwoods Village has been master planned by Design Workshop with sustainable design guidelines developed by Gensler to balance the natural attributes of the land, to protect the existing ecosystem, and to provide a mix of uses and the density required for a true live/work/play environment.
02-12-13

Minimizing Risk: Martin Luther King Medical Center Master Plan and Wellness Community Vision

In a recent New Yorker article, "Adaptation: How Can Cities Be 'Climate-Proofed'?," sociologist Eric Klinenberg points out that much of the discussion around resilience focuses on physical infrastructure, when social infrastructure can play an equally important role in how well a community survives a natural disaster.
02-11-13

ULI Foundation: Outcome-Oriented Philanthropy

To James J. Curtis III, chairman of the ULI Foundation (ULIF), the fundamental purpose of the Urban Land Institute is a lofty one: to help people live better lives by building a better world for them.
02-11-13

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Joins the ULI Greenprint Center

The ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance announced the addition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. as a new member.
02-11-13

Monday's Numbers: February 11, 2013

The institutional investor market has been scooping up all the AAA, ten-year, “super senior” CMBS bonds it can as it prowls the debt capital markets in search of yield to fund payments to beneficiaries. One driver is the continuing month-over-month improvement in CMBS delinquencies as reported by Trepp LLC and Fitch.
02-07-13

Global Investment Outlook

What are the risks and opportunities for real estate investment this year?
02-07-13

How to Make Suburbs Work Like Cities

Successful strategies for creatively using and adapting infrastructure to support more dense development in America’s suburbs are highlighted in Shifting Suburbs: Reinventing Infrastructure for Compact Development, a new ULI report.
02-06-13

Bus or Rail?

Transit measures fared well with voters in November. But debate continues over the best choice — rail or enhanced bus service?
02-05-13

Prudential Real Estate Investors’ Long-Term Perspective

J. Allen Smith, CEO of Prudential Real Estate Investors, talks about credit, global markets, and credibility.
02-04-13

Monday's Numbers: February 4, 2013

The Trepp survey for the most recent period showed spreads coming in a further 10-plus basis points as securitized and conventional lenders continue their war of attrition, compressing lending spreads in response to investors continuing to drive down yields on super-senior tranches of recent CMBS offerings.
02-04-13

ULI Real Estate Business Barometer -- February 2013

Buyer appetite for commercial property hit post-recession highs; permits and starts of all housing types continue to hit high notes; condominium sales are staging a strong comeback.
02-01-13

How Singapore Builds Smarter Density

A new report draws upon Singapore’s successful urbanization experience. Despite its population density, the city-state has consistently ranked favorably in various surveys measuring the livability and sustainability of cities around the globe.
January

01-31-13

The Fading Differentiation between City and Suburb

A “Great Reset”—the structural change following crisis—is underway. And there are some indicators of how metropolitan areas are evolving through a time of historic upheaval.
01-31-13

Cities for All: No Skipping Generations

We’re in a new age of celebrating America’s cities, no longer disparaging and fleeing them as we did through the pre-crash, suburban expansion era. But who are the cities really for?
01-28-13

Monday's Numbers: January 28, 2013

Super-senior CMBS bonds are currently trading in the range of 72 basis points over ten-year interest rate swaps; half of what they were a year ago. According to ULI Senior Fellow Stephen Blank, spreads have narrowed to the point that securitized lenders are giving conventional, portfolio lenders a run for their money.
01-28-13

NAHB: Buyers Want Energy Efficiency, Storage Options

According to a newly released NAHB survey, buyers in 2013 are looking for bigger homes again, but also want energy-efficiency and plenty of storage.
01-25-13

Housing Sector Expected to Climb Higher in 2013

Single-family housing starts are expected to rise 22 percent in 2013, according to a report from the NAHB's convention in Las Vegas. “Housing is finally doing its job in leading the economy out of recession,” said David Crowe, NAHB's chief economist.
01-22-13

The Hunt for Safety: Real Estate Prospects in Europe and Asia

Which cities have the best real estate prospects? Look to Germany and Jakarta, Indonesia according to the latest Emerging Trends in Real Estate reports from ULI and PwC.
01-22-13

The Hunt for Safety: Real Estate Prospects in Europe and Asia

Which cities have the best real estate prospects? Look to Germany and Jakarta, Indonesia according to the latest Emerging Trends in Real Estate reports from ULI and PwC.
01-22-13

N.Y. Governor Speaks Out on Climate Change, Hurricane Sandy Aftermath

In the new issue of Gotham magazine, Governor Andrew Cuomo is interviewed exclusively for the magazine by MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow. The Governor discusses climate change, the challenges and opportunities facing New York City post-Hurricane Sandy.
01-21-13

Monday's Numbers: January 21, 2013

Real Estate Research Corporation’s fourth quarter 2012 Real Estate Investment Criteria survey showed investment conditions and capitalization rates mixed quarter-over-quarter with the markets seemingly needing time to catch its collective breath after a frenetic quarter during which equity capital flooded the markets.
01-14-13

Hines Competition Focused on New Land Uses for Area Near Proposed Stadium

With the Super Bowl just a few weeks away, a sports-centric project has been selected for this year’s ULI Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition. A Minneapolis site, adjacent to the proposed location for a new NFL stadium in Downtown East, has been selected as this year’s focus.
01-14-13

Monday's Numbers: January 13, 2013

According to the FTSE NAREIT Equity REIT Index, equity REITs produced total returns equal to 18.06 percent in 2012, including dividends equal to 3.70 percent. REITs outperformed the S&P 500 Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the NASDAQ Composite Index making 2012 the fourth year in a row that REITs have outperformed the other indices.
01-09-13

Washington, Minneapolis Are Top U.S. Cities for Bikesharing

New York and Chicago were expected to launch systems, but delays have pushed them to 2013. Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, and others did expand, but it wasn't the banner year that was anticipated. As a result, Capital Bikeshare remains the largest bikesharing network in America.
01-07-13

India May Outpace China by 2032

Although the World Bank projects the Chinese economy will grow by more than 8 percent in 2013, developers may find better bets in India and some other Asian countries over the next 20 years, according to a report from Hong Kong-based Global Demographics.
01-07-13

ULI Real Estate Business Barometer -- January 2013

Buyer appetite for commercial property softened a bit; the upward trajectory of permits and starts of all housing types is unabated; economic indicators continue to reflect sustained moderate growth.
01-07-13

Monday's Numbers: January 7, 2013

Against a background of estimates of roughly $60 billion in issuance in 2013, the commercial mortgage-backed securities market will get its first test of the year when a $1.4 billion offering comes to market this week.
December

12-21-12

How the Fiscal Cliff Hits Cities

The on again, off again threat of the fiscal cliff has put municipal governments in a decidedly awkward position. How should they prepare for legislation designed not to minimize pain, but rather to be too hurtful to ever enact?
12-20-12

ULX: More than a Mix-Up

Ideally, mixed-use projects achieve some kind of symbiosis among their elements, creating a whole that is more than the sum of the parts. All completed in the past five years, the following ten projects represent innovative takes on combining product types.
12-19-12

Connecting the Dots

We chose the theme of this issue, Connect, about a year ago, with no way of knowing how relevant it would be in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, which demonstrated vividly how much connection matters.
12-19-12

Quick Questions with Calvin Gladney

Calvin Gladney is a public/private partnership strategist and managing partner of Mosaic Urban Partners, a real estate development and advisory services firm based in Washington, D.C., that specializes in transforming urban communities.
12-19-12

Amid Uncertainty, Real Estate Is Recovering

San Francisco displaces Washington, D.C., as the top-ranked city in the Emerging Trends report issued by ULI and PwC. And 2013 is looking to be a better year throughout the country.
12-19-12

Technology Outlook: Where Is Technology Taking the Real Estate Industry?

ULI members discuss the influence of social media, the internet, and smartphones on consumer behavior, as well as the promise of technology to enhance the design, construction, and operation of buildings.
12-18-12

Brooklyn Nets City's First Pre-Fab High-Rise

The Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn has gone through the usual tortured process of redevelopment in New York City. But there’s another component of the massive project that is most worthy of attention for what it says about state-of-the-art housing construction: the world’s tallest modular building.
12-17-12

Real Estate Education: The Online Option

The availability of online college degrees and certificates in real estate seems to increase every year. Students enrolled in such programs can acquire the skills necessary to work in commercial and corporate real estate companies—especially important because all states require licensing for some types of real estate transactions.
12-17-12

University Real Estate Programs Today: Active and Evolving

Universities are joining real estate with related business and design curriculums—and boosting their hands-on experiences for students.
12-17-12

Adapting to a New Realty: Inside This Year's McCoy Symposium

ULI senior fellow Stephen Blank says attendeees of last week's annual ULI/McCoy Symposium on Real Estate Finance said 2013 would be a year more to their liking and better than 2012. Participants said their companies were well positioned to benefit from shocks as well as volatility.
12-17-12

A Market-Based Argument for Energy Efficiency in Rentals

Middle-market renters do care about energy efficiency. Energy-conscious rehabs can deliver workforce housing that is affordable to live in—and that conserves resources.
12-17-12

Monday's Numbers: December 17, 2012

According to the most recent Trepp survey, spreads were flat and relatively unchanged during the most recent survey period.
12-13-12

Many Shades of Gray: Baby Boomers And Their Disparate Needs

The over-65 population is shunning institutional settings in favor of walkable, amenity-rich communities in cities or close-in suburbs. And conflict is coming as seniors compete with younger residents for scarce government resources.
12-10-12

ULI Real Estate Business Barometer -- December 2012

Apartment fundamentals shine even brighter; buyer appetite for commercial property continues unabated as prices close in on four-year highs and cap rates compress; economic indicators point to sustained moderate growth.
12-10-12

City as Master Developer

A newly incorporated suburb near Salt Lake City takes on the challenge of becoming master developer of its new urban heart.
12-10-12

Monday's Numbers: December 10, 2012

According to the most recent Trepp survey, spreads widened as much as 15 basis points, marking the end—for the moment—of the “incredible shrinking" cost of securitized mortgage debt as compared to rates quoted by commercial banks and insurance companies.
12-10-12

Tips from the PPP Playbook

How developers and government agencies make public/private partnerships succeed.
12-06-12

University Library ‘Goes Green’ For Finals

Cornell University students looking for a break from the winter weather and the pressure of finals can still get a hint of warmer weather, thanks to a temporary grass installation in several buildings on campus.
12-06-12

Seven Communities Honored with EPA Award for Smart Growth

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized seven communities with its 2012 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement. Honorees included projects in Portsmouth, Va., Brattleboro, Vt., and Lancaster, Calif.
12-03-12

A Retail Catalyst in Brooklyn

Even if the storefront occupants are only temporary, orchestrating the right mix of retail and residential tenants helps give a redevelopment a certain vibe.
12-03-12

Tending to Ireland's Green Shoots

After five long years of fiscal crisis, there appears to be some stabilization in commercial real estate, according to a CBRE report issued in November. CBRE analysts cite four consecutive quarters of positive returns in Ireland’s commercial real estate sector.
12-03-12

Monday's Numbers: December 3, 2012

Standard & Poor’s Rating Services reported that CMBS delinquencies declined to their lowest level in 30 months, ending October at 9.66 percent, down from 9.77 percent in September. Importantly, the principal amount of loans liquated, restructured, or modified so that they could return to current status exceeded the amount of delinquencies offerings.
November

11-30-12

Approaching the Fiscal Cliff

In the past few months, unemployment has fallen, the housing market has strengthened, gas prices have fallen, and consumer confidence is at a five-year high. Would those positive indicators be negated by the economic shock of falling off the fiscal cliff, and plunge the U.S. back into recession?
11-29-12

The Top Market in Asia: Jakarta

Indonesia's capital city is named the top Asian market in the 2013 Emerging Trends Forecast by ULI and PwC.
11-26-12

Healthy Communities: A New Direction in Development

What does the epidemic of obesity in the U.S. have to do with how communities are designed and built? That was the question at a panel at the ULI Fall Meeting in Denver. In short, panelists said the way we design and build communities can have a big effect on residents’ physical and mental health.
11-26-12

London Gets the Gold in Mori’s Global Power Index

For the first time since the Mori Memorial Foundation began compiling its Global Power City Index in 2008, New York City fell from the top spot. Mostly due to the activities surrounding this year’s Olympics, the Japanese-based researcher found that London ranked the highest in terms of "magnetism."
11-26-12

Monday's Numbers: November 26, 2012

According to its most recent Trepp survey, spreads were unchanged. It was a very quiet and short week with few, if any, deals coming to market. Rates and terms quoted by lenders appeared unchanged with the market’s focus on getting transactions papered and closed by year-end.
11-19-12

Monday's Numbers: November 19, 2012

According to its most recent Trepp survey, spreads bounced around a little, ending the week basically unchanged week-over-week as the markets prepared for the foreshortened Thanksgiving week.
11-13-12

Leisure Is a Focus of Riyadh’s Mall-Based Retail Development

New malls in the pipeline could force some existing facilities to upgrade their brands, parking, and recreation offerings.
11-13-12

Envisioning a City Center—With Nonstop Service to Tokyo

An aerotropolis around Denver International Airport would build on the airport’s access to the world.
11-12-12

Monday's Numbers: November 12, 2012

According to its most recent survey, Trepp reported spreads were unchanged week-over-week, likely defining pricing for the balance of the year for the most creditworthy borrowers seeking to mortgage core properties located in gateway markets.
11-08-12

Sustainable Development Outlook

How far has the sustainable development movement come?
11-08-12

Way Green: Via Verde Affordable Housing

A New York City competition proves that green living environments can extend to affordable housing.
11-07-12

ULX: Working for Green

Ten office buildings push the sustainable design envelope.
11-06-12

Storm’s Aftermath Casts New Light on Familiar Topics

Whatever form natural disasters take, cities need to incorporate resilience and sustainability into their existing infrastructure and in their plans for growth.
11-06-12

Sandy and the Rising Tide: Responding to the Rise in Sea Levels

There are many tough issues to be addressed in finding the best ways to build resilience into coastal regions. But there is also much that has already been studied, is well known, is practical and can be implemented now without the need for new studies. What is needed is for these recommendations to be enacted and to become part of zoning and building codes and the process of approving new development and infrastructure.
11-05-12

ULI Real Estate Business Barometer -- November 2012

Commercial property returns slowed but buyer appetite remained steady. Permits, starts and new homes sales are at multi-year highs; the release of IPhone 5 boosted retail sales.
11-05-12

Monday's Numbers: November 5, 2012

The equity and debt markets re-opened Wednesday, while Friday's jobs numbers were better than the majority of analysts projected, with upward adjustments to prior monthly totals. Treasury yields ended the shortened week about where they started.
11-02-12

Adaptability—and Sustainability—Are Keys to Coping with the New Economy

How best to adapt to a fast-changing, tech-enabled world? Government and private-sector leaders point to sustainability, education—and keeping an eye on what people are eagerly sharing rather than buying.
11-01-12

Land Leases: An Answer to the Mortgage Forgiveness Problem

Methods that the federal government used successfully in the 1970s and more recently in dealing with country’s banking crises could help equitably resolve today’s crisis of underwater mortgages and foreclosures.
11-01-12

Honest Buildings: A Social Network for Buildings

Finding detailed information on buildings—as well as the companies and people associated with them—is expensive, time consuming, and often difficult. But a new website, Honestbuildings.com, is intended to make such information as easy to find—and relationships as easy to build—as it is to look up old college roommates on Facebook.
October

10-29-12

Monday's Numbers: October 29, 2012

The Trepp, LLC survey showed commercial mortgage spreads coming in a few basis points during the survey period as lenders continue to compete aggressively for new business.
10-26-12

The Energy Piece of the Green Leasing Puzzle

There are ways to align the savings from reduced energy costs incurred by both landlord and tenant.
10-26-12

Greening the Big Blue Box

A compact new Denver IKEA uses geothermal and solar energy, coupled with parking ramp conveyors, to create a more land- and energy-efficient alternative to sprawling big-box stores.
10-25-12

Ghetto at the Center of the World: Chungking Mansions, Hong Kong

Deep in Hong Kong’s core, 17 floors of a run-down building full of transients provide a key to understanding globalization from the bottom up. Gordon Mathews’s new book paints a detailed portrait of life in and around Chungking Mansions.
10-25-12

A 1987 ULI Panel Helped Lay the Foundation for the Colorado Convention Center

The Colorado Convention Center is one of the country’s busiest meeting venues. The Colorado Convention Center is now one of the country’s busiest meeting venues. But it had a humble and fractious start.
10-25-12

Real Estate Industry Needs Better Preparation for CEO Succession

Plans for chief executive officer succession at most real estate firms in the United States are inadequate and could jeopardize a smooth transition of leadership, says a new report conducted for ULI by global search and assessment firm Russell Reynolds Associates.
10-25-12

Is Small Beautiful Again? The Sudden Interest in Micro-Apartments

Could apartments one-fifth the size of what is now typical in New York City be a viable solution to the city’s notorious lack of affordability?
10-25-12

Shovel Ready in Florida

When money becomes available, will the right plans be in place?
10-24-12

Tracking Capital in a Post-Recession Market

In search of better returns, investors are finding their way back to real estate.
10-24-12

Energy Underfoot

U.S. utilities begin working to exploit the thermal energy flowing through wastewater pipes each day.
10-24-12

Worth Watching: Metro Areas and Their Prospects

Traditional industries, including energy and autos, are making a comeback in the United States. Their resurgence may present new opportunities for real estate investment.
10-24-12

U.S. Builds on Public-Private Partnership Model From Canada, UK

With the U.S. grappling with how to address more than $2 trillion in infrastructure needs, PPPs increasingly are the answer, according to panelists at the ULI Fall Meeting in Denver.
10-24-12

Using Special Assessments to Fund Transit Investments

Special assessments, which tie property taxes directly to benefits, are being used in some of the country’s highest-profile transit projects.
10-24-12

U.S. Mayors/Rose Fellows Outline Plans for Their Cities’ Transformations

Seven big-city mayors, all fellows of the ULI Rose Center for Public Leadership, outline plans to revitalize areas of their cities.
10-24-12

Future Lies in Flexibility for MPCs

Mobile dining and urban agriculture are two of the ways forward-thinking developers are welcoming vendors and gardeners through amenity packages. These edible community features were among a number of examples that can be incorporated into master planned communities that were advanced at the ULI Fall Meeting in Denver October 18.
10-24-12

Regional Cooperation for Transit: Where Are the Votes?

When it comes to planning and funding metropolitan transit systems, regional cooperation and buy-in is essential, said panelists at ULI’s Fall Meeting in Denver.
10-24-12

The Promises and Perils of MAP-21

The new federal transportation bill presents both promise and peril for people interested in thriving urban places, said panelists at a session yesterday during ULI’s Fall Meeting in Denver.
10-23-12

Planning for Moscow's Future

Home to 13 million people, Moscow has the largest urban population in Europe and is the fifth largest city in the world. But how does it manage for the future to ensure a position on the world stage?
10-22-12

Rove, Gibbs Face Off on Upcoming Election

Strategists from both sides of the aisle say whichever candidate wins presidency will face a divided Congress. Compromise is needed on issues such as the upcoming fiscal cliff.
10-22-12

Capital Markets on the Rebound: Where the Risk Lies

There is optimism in the capital markets about the current rate of growth and health of major banks. But concerns are growing that mounting pressure to build business could lead to something of a rewind of past cycles.
10-22-12

Monday's Numbers: October 22, 2012

The Trepp, LLC survey showed commercial mortgage spreads coming unchanged during the survey period. Plus, a few themes from last week's ULI Fall Meeting.
10-19-12

Coloradans Search for Balance in Growth of 'Fracking'

Hydraulic fracturing is a method of extracting natural gas. It has strong economic and land use implications, especially in the West, where the process is fairly new, but it is not without controversy.
10-19-12

Opportunities and Risk Return to Asian Markets

Risk is a fact-of-life that needs to be constantly assessed on the ground, a trio of experts said at a session on Asia real estate capital markets.
10-19-12

Economist Sees No Easy End to Euro Woes

Clouds remain on the horizon of the global economy according to Professor Andrea Boltho at his keynote address to the Urban Land Institute Fall Meeting in Denver.
10-19-12

Urban Opportunities Arise Among Others for High-End Resorts

Resort developers and operators took a hit during the recession, but are making a cautious comeback, according to a panel at ULI’s Fall Meeting.
10-19-12

Retail Brands Have Value in Developing Countries

Cities in developing countries are drawing on the power of widely recognized retail brands – particularly big box retailers such as Target and Walmart.
10-19-12

John Bucksbaum Shares His Tough Lessons Learned

In a candid, poignant session at ULI’s Fall Meeting in Denver, attendees heard firsthand about tough lessons learned in commercial real estate from John L. Bucksbaum, former chair of retail developer General Growth Properties, Inc. (GGP).
10-18-12

Finding the Right Chemistry for a Magic Elixir: A Sense of Place

Whether it’s a river or small trout stream, restaurants or open spaces, a farmers' market or a music venue, anything that gives a project a sense of place will encourage social interaction, will lead to the ultimate goal of creating value.
10-18-12

How Retailers are Adapting to Increased Online Sales

Today’s retail industry is feeling pressure from every direction. Changing consumer behavior, the still-stagnant macroeconomic environment, heightened competition, and price transparency are creating a huge cloud of uncertainty for the industry.
10-18-12

The New Growth of Cities: Lessons from the U.S. and Europe

A lively debate at the ULI Fall Meeting in Denver on how cities can make themselves genuinely business friendly and attract outside investment.
10-18-12

Macroeconomics: Going Beyond the Numbers

Conventional macroeconomics failed to predict the most recent financial crisis and will fail to predict other major economic developments over the next five years.
10-18-12

ULI Report Shows America's Seniors Looking for Something Different in Housing

Often overlooked as developers and planners study the market demands of a youthful Generation Y is the fact that the fastest-growing age group in the U.S. in the population age 65 and older
10-17-12

What Does Generation Y Want?

The Gen Y generation is so large that it will “provide a steady flow” of apartment renters and home buyers for the next 10-15 years, a top real estate demographer said at the ULI Fall Meeting in Denver Oct. 17.
10-17-12

ULI-Greenprint Center Report Suggests Improvements in Carbon, Energy Emissions

A new report being released today by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Greenprint Center for Building Performance showed a 4.4 percent reduction in year-over year energy consumption in a portfolio of properties from 46 countries.
10-17-12

Imagining Children at Play in the Streets of the New American City

Imagine a new city as if you had a magic wand and could create a place that makes its residents happy, Enrique Penalosa, president of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, challenged ULI members attending the Fall Meeting in Denver Oct. 17.
10-17-12

San Francisco Named Top City in 2013 Real Estate Forecast

The real estate recovery will continue in 2013 as modest gains in leasing, rents, and pricing will extend across U.S. markets and improve prospects for all property sectors.
10-11-12

What Draws Creative People? Quality of Place

Variety, stimulation, and an atmosphere of tolerance help attract people who can afford to be choosy about where they live.
10-11-12

From Skid Row to LoDo: Historic Preservation’s Role in Denver’s Revitalization

Capitalizing on an old warehouse district helped turn around a downtown.
10-11-12

The Many Uses Blooming at Denver's Old Airport: Stapleton

Think of it as recycling on a grand scale: thousands of people—and trees—are living where airline terminals and concrete runways once stood.
10-11-12

Colfax: The West's "Golden Road" Regaining Lost Luster

How a combination of transit, investment, and planning is spurring a turnaround for one of America’s historic urban corridors.
10-10-12

ULI Panel Influences Plans for Renovating Mies van der Rohe Landmark in D.C.

The ULI Advisory Services program has been providing timely advice to communities. The latest evidence of how these programs shape decision making is a library in the heart of Washington, D.C.
10-10-12

Landscape Architect Peter Walker Awarded the 2012 ULI J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development

Landscape architect Peter Walker, founder of PWP Landscape Architecture in Berkeley, California, has been chosen as the 2012 recipient of the ULI J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, the Institute’s highest honor.
10-10-12

Vail After the Low-Snow Winter

How do you guide the resort and real estate businesses through an erratic economy—and the fickle whims of Mother Nature?
10-08-12

ULI Real Estate Business Barometer -- October 2012

Lows and highs were energized this month: unemployment dropped to an almost four-year low; cap rates stayed near four-year lows, but moved enough to suggest a broadening buyer appetite for secondary markets; CMBS issuance vaulted to an almost five-year high; and multifamily permits were near four-year highs.
10-08-12

Monday's Numbers: October 8, 2012

With a number of single- borrower as well as multi-borrower deals in the queue, sales of commercial mortgage-backed securities could reach $45 billion in 2012, a 40 percent increase over the 2011 total. While that is only a fraction of the historical high-water mark in 2007, it represents significant progress in the rehabilitation process and argues for a pickup in buy-sell transaction velocity in 2013.
10-05-12

How Florida is tackling “What’s Next?”

Regional cooperation is key to making states competitive in the 21st century, say the mayors of Florida’s biggest cities
10-01-12

Monday's Numbers: October 1, 2012

Drop whatever you are doing and go refinance something; how can it be any better than this?
September

09-28-12

New Fall Meeting Mobile App Debuts in Denver

Attendees at ULI’s 2012 Fall Meeting in Denver will find it easier to get the most out of the event thanks to a new mobile app for iPads, iPhones, and other smartphones.
09-27-12

Investment Prospects of China and South Asia

As investors worldwide try to assess the depth and duration of China’s economic slowdown, more than 200 real estate industry leaders focused on the prospects for ongoing investment in emerging markets at a forum sponsored by ULI and the National University of Singapore’s Institute of Real Estate Studies.
09-27-12

ULI Economic Consensus Forecast Reins in Projections, Except for Housing

The outlook among the more than three dozen contributors to the semiannual ULI Consensus Forecast, released September 26, is that the commercial markets will not do as well in the coming three years as was thought in March, when the initial ULI forecast was published. For housing, however, forecasters are even more optimistic than they were six months ago.
09-24-12

Monday's Numbers: September 24, 2012

The Trepp, LLC survey showed commercial mortgage spreads coming in a few basis points during the survey period as securitized lenders reduce spreads to borrowers, reflecting the benefit of the recent rally in the most creditworthy CMBS bonds. Institutional lenders continue to utilize floor pricing in the sub-4 percent range, reflecting a more competitive lending environment.
09-17-12

Monday's Numbers: September 17, 2012

Commercial mortgage spreads widened a few basis points as floor pricing continues in effect with rates in the 4.0 percent to 5.0 percent range, according to the latest Trepp, LLC survey.
09-15-12

Special Section: California

Powered by diversified markets that include technology, shipping, and agriculture, the Golden State’s real estate industry appears to be on the upswing.
09-15-12

LEED for the Neighborhood

Three pilot projects replace blight with green, mixed-use development.
09-12-12

ULX: Tight Squeezes

Ten infill projects maximize constrained sites. All completed in the past five years, the following ten projects employ various tactics to circumvent the limitations of their sites. Some cantilever, some compress, some interlock, some zigzag, and some undulate.
09-12-12

Battery Park City, 2010 ULI Heritage Award Winner, Aids the Rebirth of Lower Manhattan

Located at the southern end of Manhattan Island, it has been called one of the most significant major developments built in the United States during the past 100 years.
09-12-12

Around the World on Two Wheels

Bike sharing in the United States may not yet be as popular as in Europe or China, but two-wheelers are making tracks in high-cost cities.
09-11-12

Transportation Bill Signed into Law

On July 6, representatives of ULI joined other transportation leaders at the White House for the signing by President Obama of MAP-21, the two-year reauthorization of the federal transportation program.
09-10-12

ULI Real Estate Business Barometer -- September 2012

Apartment fundamentals are sizzling as rents and vacancy rates continued to improve; completions continued their U-shaped recovery, and absorption doubled. Commercial property transactions dropped sharply in all but the office sector, where transactions were just slightly off; prices barely changed, remaining at three-year highs. Economic indicators, at best, point to a pause in near-term optimism.
09-10-12

Monday's Numbers: September 10, 2012

The Trepp, LLC survey showed commercial mortgage spreads coming in five to 10 basis points during the survey period. Floor pricing continues in effect with rates in the 4.0 percent to 5.0 percent range.
09-10-12

Hidden Transit: How Companies are Going the Last Mile

Private companies are going the last mile to ensure that their facilities are well served by transit. And they see it as a way to maintain their competitive edge.
09-07-12

Multifamily Construction, Vacancies Show Strength in Second Quarter

While national statistics show gains, particularly for market-rate units, experts warn that in a few markets, there may be too much supply in the pipeline.
09-05-12

Engaging the World through Partnerships

Several partnerships ULI has established over the past several months—including those with the World Economic Forum (WEF), Aspen Institute, and Centre for Liveable Cities in Singapore—are presenting new opportunities for the Institute to think big, think ahead, and think beyond the norm.
09-05-12

Transportation and Globalism

A review of this issue of Urban Land brings two themes to mind: transportation and globalism. They are intimately intertwined, of course, with advances in transportation—along with the internet—enabling today’s global economy.
August

08-30-12

Waiting for the Robo-Garage?

As land values rise, the cost of high-density parking begins to pencil out for developers. At some point, parking systems that automatically store and retrieve cars could become attractive.
08-29-12

The Payoff from Parks

Urban parks provide a competitive advantage for most forms of real estate—and the bump in value is measurable.
08-27-12

Transit-oriented Development Outlook

What can be done to ease the gridlock—on roads and in government?
08-24-12

ULI Down Under: Plans for Growth in Australia

Peter Holland, the director of international property economics at Urbis, has been tapped to organize ULI in Australia. Holland works with a wide range of clients in mature and emerging markets for Urbis, a professional consulting firm.
08-23-12

Barangaroo Rising

A massive project on reclaimed land in Darling Harbour has no small goal: redefining Sydney as a hub of Asia Pacific commerce.
08-23-12

Linchpin of the West

Denver’s historic train station is being re-created as a multimodal transit center, hotel, and shopping venue. And it is already spurring development in the Mile High City.
08-23-12

Multiblock Underground Shared Parking

Contiguous underground, shared parking can be a critical stimulus for horizontal mixed-use density.
08-22-12

Investing in Distressed Debt

The estimated $1 trillion in “overleveraged, underwater debt” slated to mature over the next six years overwhelms the approximately $300 billion targeting such deals, Richard Saltzman, president of Colony Capital, said at the ULI Capital Markets Conference,
08-20-12

James J. Curtis III Assumes Chairmanship of ULI Foundation

ULI trustee James J. Curtis III, cofounder and managing partner of the Bristol Group Inc., a San Francisco–based real estate investment firm, is the new chairman of the ULI Foundation.
08-20-12

Olympic Legacy: Otters and Trees along the River Lea

An area of East London once known for decay and contamination will offer greenery and wildlife habitat after the Games are gone.
08-20-12

Monday's Numbers: August 20, 2012

The Trepp, LLC survey showed commercial mortgage spreads widening about 5 basis points during the survey period as the markets head for a time out until after Labor Day. Floor pricing remains in the 4.0 percent to 5.0 percent range.
08-13-12

Monday's Numbers: August 13, 2012

The Trepp, LLC survey showed commercial mortgage spreads widening as much as four basis points during the survey period. Floor pricing in the 4 percent to 5 percent range continues in effect as the market for newly issued commercial mortgage-backed securities strengthened. Year-to-date volume equals $24.2 billion with the over-under for full year 2012 volume in the mid-$30 billion range.
08-08-12

Revitalizing the Soul and the Neighborhood through Art

By turning forlorn properties into places for appreciating the arts, Chicago artist Theaster Gates is creating his own version of urban renewal.
08-08-12

Master Class: Development Lessons from Seven Industry Leaders

Hard-earned words of wisdom on risk, financing, and running a real estate business.
08-08-12

Infill Office, Outsize Impact

A seven-story infill office building with a dramatic facade on a tiny downtown fringe site in Portland, Oregon, anchors the regeneration of an arcaded district.
08-06-12

ULI Real Estate Business Barometer -- August 2012

Buyer appetite for commercial property remains strong as indicated by continued low cap rates, rising transactions, and prices at three-and-a-half-year highs. Multifamily construction took a break from its recent momentum; single-family construction continued upward even as new home sales dropped dramatically. Existing housing prices are taking off, at least for now. But weak economic indicators continue to raise fears that any emerging strength can be easily knocked off course.
08-06-12

Monday's Numbers: August 6, 2012

The Trepp, LLC survey showed commercial mortgage spreads widening six basis points during the survey period and as much as 15 basis points during the past month as capital continue to remain available from both conventional and securitized lenders for properties that can pass lenders’ stringent underwriting metrics. Floor pricing in the 4 percent to 5 percent range continues to be in effect.
08-03-12

Evolution of Chicago’s Navy Pier Shaped by ULI Advisory Service Panels

In 1989, a ULI Advisory Services panel was convened to help the city arrest serious decay at Navy Pier, which had experienced a decline so apparent that there was even talk of closing it, eliminating its unparalleled views of the Chicago skyline. But the ULI panel came back with a framework for reimagining Navy Pier.
08-01-12

Real Estate Industry Needs Better Preparation for CEO Succession

Plans for CEO succession at most real estate firms in the U.S. are inadequate and could jeopardize a smooth transition of leadership, says a new report by ULI and global search and assessment firm Russell Reynolds.
08-01-12

ULX: Collaboration in the Workplace

Ten workplaces exemplify creative strategies for enabling collaboration and flexibility.
08-01-12

Development Strategies for a New Era of Health Care

As providers seek to bring care closer to the community, health care campuses may come to include hotels, retail, research facilities, and more.
08-01-12

Innovation Anchors: Medical and Educational Facilities Drive Development

Two Florida communities attract thriving health and life science clusters that boost economic growth and job gains.
08-01-12

Industrial and Office Park Outlook

What does economic recovery mean for the industrial and office sectors?
July

07-31-12

Special Section Top Markets

What do the high-tech industry’s "Silicon Hills" have in common with Massachusetts’s largest metropolis, the nation’s energy hub, the financial capital of the world, and the City by the Bay? The answer: job growth, and it is fueling real estate development.
07-31-12

A Jump Start for Housing

Donating underused land could be key to building workforce housing—and kicking off a construction rebound.
07-30-12

Monday's Numbers: July 30, 2012

The Trepp, LLC survey showed commercial mortgage spreads basically unchanged during the past month and unlikely to change barring a systemic collapse in the capital markets, which certainly is possible in our uncertain and volatile economic and political times. In our view, a systemic problem of any magnitude will likely lead to lenders looking for someplace to hide, with liquidity prized and unavailable for borrowers except the most creditworthy ones.
07-26-12

BP Gets Resilient in Houston

It was not just Hurricane Katrina that convinced BP to build Helios Plaza, its new mission critical–type facility in Houston, with a strong resilience program. It was also the mundane reality that flood-prone Buffalo Bayou is only blocks away from its campus.
07-25-12

Land Writes: Engineered Resilience

Clients increasingly ask for buildings that can continue to function—and protect lives—through any disaster.
07-23-12

Monday's Numbers: July 23, 2012

The Trepp, LLC survey showed spreads basically unchanged during the most recent survey period. Subject to an unpredictable “black swan”-like event (which is certainly possible in today’s uncertain and volatile capital markets), the balance of this year is likely to be range-bound by lenders instituting floor pricing in the 4.0 percent to 4.5 percent range.
07-19-12

A “P3” Manifesto

It takes vision and true collaboration to derive the full potential of public/private partnerships.
07-16-12

Monday's Numbers: July 16, 2012

The Trepp, LLC survey showed spreads widening as much as nine basis points during the survey period as volatility returned to the marketplace. While wont to make predictions, we see the balance of 2012 range-bound by floor pricing (in the 4.0 percent to 4.5 percent range) by lenders.
07-13-12

Eclectic Place Making at Singapore’s Keppel Bay

Natural assets, combined with inventive design, help transform a global gateway.
07-13-12

HealthLine Drives Growth in Cleveland

A bus rapid transit project proves a powerful catalyst for development—and transforms the way Cleveland thinks about the link between transportation and jobs.
07-12-12

The Suburban Ripple Effect of Sustainable Cities

Much has been said about how cities must lead on sustainability and climate change when national governments have not. But they must lead from the other direction as well because smaller communities and the suburbs around them don’t have the resources to leverage affordable green solutions.
07-12-12

Financing of Commercial Real Estate in Europe to Become More Diverse

The entry of insurers and pension funds into European commercial real estate credit will have a substantial impact on property pricing, according to panelists at a the ULI Germany’s Urban Leader Summit.
07-12-12

Business Leaders See Opportunity in Japan’s Aging Population

At the 2012 ULI Japan Summer Conference, CEOs from three prominent industries agreed that the business climate in Japan is friendly to foreign-owned businesses and that the aging population presents potential growth in tourism and health care.
07-12-12

Japanese Investors Warily Watch Europe

Panelists at the ULI Japan Summer Conference expressed cautious hope that Europe might turn around more quickly than did Japan after its financial crisis in the mid-1990s.
07-11-12

Tokyo Poised for Return to the Global Map

Participants at the ULI Japan Summer Conference in Tokyo speculated about the potential of the island nation as an international financial center and destination.
07-11-12

Planning for a Generation that Thinks Outside of the House

More than ever, renters and homebuyers are focusing on a sense of place and amenities rather than on the size of their homes.
07-11-12

Economists Finally See Positive Movement in Housing

The housing industry will continue to improve gradually over the next year, following three years of stagnation, with the recovery fueled primarily by strong activity in individual markets scattered across the country.
07-09-12

ULI Real Estate Business Barometer -- July 2012

The top 10 trends in this month’s Barometer highlight muted growth in the economy, mixed signals in the capital markets, and a housing market that continues on a low simmer.
07-09-12

Monday's Numbers: July 9, 2012

The Trepp, LLC survey showed spreads coming in as much as 10 basis points, an incredible amount given the turbulence affecting the credit markets, i.e., LIBORgate; Euro-crises; increased CMBS delinquencies, and widening spreads in CMBS new issues, to name just a few. Maybe it’s the heat as no one seems to be using these spreads to actually price borrower cost, relying solely on floor pricing.
07-03-12

Salvaging the Distressed Condo Hotel

Following the resort bust in 2008, many developers, investors, and lenders in the condo-hotel market were left with broken projects. However, they can minimize their losses by converting those properties into traditional hotels or by selling or renting them as multifamily units.
07-03-12

New Transportation Bill Passes with Bipartisan Support

The new transportation law, Moving Ahead with for Progress in the 21st Century, maintains federal funding for existing programs and includes several provisions that may be beneficial to smart growth policies.
07-02-12

Monday's Numbers: July 2, 2012

The Trepp, LLC survey showed spreads unchanged during the survey period as the markets continued to languish, waiting for…the Supreme Court, the EU and European Central bank, the Federal Reserve, the heat wave baking the majority of the country to abate…who knows. Meanwhile, lenders continue to quote loans at rates based upon floor pricing which remains very attractive.
June

06-29-12

Rental real estate market has legs, experts say

New supply is still far short of demand, say panelists at a Denver conference. Even if developers wanted to overbuild, there’s not enough capital—or taste for risk—available to do it.
06-28-12

Solo Cities: How “Living Alone” Is Changing Urban America

Far from being loners, singles in the city are creating connections—and vitality—says Eric Klinenberg, author of Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone.
06-25-12

Monday's Numbers: June 25, 2012

The Trepp LLC survey showed spreads widening 10 to 15 basis points during the survey period as the markets languish, waiting for clarity. A week ago, it was who would win the Greek election; now that the austerity party has won, the markets are holding their collective breaths waiting to see what will actually happen.
06-22-12

Is a Repeat of the Recent Crisis on the Way for Commercial Real Estate?

A commercial real estate crisis in the U.S. is looming over the next two to three years, as at least $1.5 trillion in commercial mortgage debt issued over the past decade becomes due, said industry practitioners speaking at the National Association of Real Estate Editors conference in Denver.
06-22-12

Energy Efficiency as a Sales Tool

Despite research to the contrary, one Denver home builder has used energy efficiency as a selling point of his homes. He talks pay-back not in years but in terms of monthly payments. “That’s what people are really concerned about,” said Gene Myers, a leading private builder at Stapleton.
06-22-12

Housing Demand: What Will a Comeback Look Like?

With the number of household formations tapering off significantly in the past few years, dismal job growth, tight credit standards, low housing prices (which have yet to rebound in most of the nation), and lots of policy uncertainties, future demand also looks rather dismal, said David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, at a ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing forum on June 21.
06-21-12

Office Boundaries and Open Spaces

Although trends in office design favor open, collaborative work spaces—with communal tables and devoid of cubicles, private offices, and many hallmarks of traditional workplace culture—for some businesses it still makes sense to take a more traditional approach to workplace design.
06-20-12

The Maturation of the Green Building Industry

With the recent postponement of LEED 2012 and the growing ranks of green building-evaluation mechanisms, real estate professionals face decisions about which third-party program to prioritize.
06-19-12

Making Mixed-Income Housing Work

Over the past decade, mixed-income housing has been rising in popularity across the country, with progressive cities providing housing for lower-income residents alongside more affluent ones. "[Traditional] lenders have not yet bought into the concept," says private developer John Huskey, president of Los Angeles–based Meta Housing Inc., but he hopes traditional lenders will accept this concept, much as they did mixed-use development a decade ago. "We’re demonstrating that you can get market rents alongside affordable housing," he says.
06-18-12

Monday's Numbers: June 18, 2012

The Trepp LLC survey showed spreads unchanged during the survey period as the market participants held their breath waiting to see how Greece fares following the critical election on June 17. Pricing remains subject to floors from both conventional and securitized lenders with all-in costs said to be 3.5 percent (+/-) for five year funds and 4.0 percent (+/-) for 10-year financing.
06-15-12

Regional Transit: Regrouping in the Tampa Bay Area

Despite setbacks, leaders in the Tampa Bay area continue to push for regional transit in the name of economic competitiveness.
06-15-12

Checking Into ULI’s 1997 Heritage Award Winner, the Arizona Biltmore

The Arizona Biltmore, often called the "Jewel of the Desert," was awarded the ULI Heritage Award for architectural integrity, landscaping, and high quality of service in 1997. Through the hotel's 83-year history, its owners have been able to maintain the Frank Lloyd Wright–influenced vision that made the resort famous.
06-14-12

Duke Energy CEO Talks Conservation with ULI Members

There are not enough people with long-term vision, particularly when it comes to investments that can significantly reduce energy use, Duke Energy Chief Executive Officer James E. Rogers said in his keynote address at the ULI Spring Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, in May.
06-14-12

Energy-Saving Deep Retrofits

Deep retrofits with energy savings topping 30 to 50 percent result only from energy efficiency strategies that affect multiple systems in a building. Deep retrofits are part energy efficiency project, part real estate project, and can be daunting in their cohesive nature. However, in a 2011 study the New Buildings Institute found that "in most projects, the cost of the efficiency portion was not distinguishable due to the renovation nature of the work."
06-14-12

Diving Deep

Each of these projects was able to capitalize on unique financial and marketing opportunities. The integration of deep retrofits with shrewd real estate strategies created a more compelling comeback story, and one that more readily resonates with today’s tenants and investors.
06-13-12

Bringing Human Scale to China’s Cities

Peter Calthorpe, a ULI J.C. Nichols Award laureate, promotes breaking down imposing superblocks
06-13-12

Bloomberg Philanthropies Challenges American Cities to Solve Problems, Share Solutions

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge, a competition to inspire American cities to generate innovative and replicable ideas that improve city life. Bloomberg Philanthropies will award one $5 million grand prize and four $1 million additional prizes to the cities with the best ideas.
06-12-12

With Interest Rates Low—and Falling—Lenders Scale Back Expectations on Originations

Lenders are scaling back expectations for 2012, according to representatives of major financial institutions speaking at ULI’s recent Capital Markets Conference.
06-11-12

Investing in Distressed Debt

Richard Saltzman, president of Colony Capital, kicked off a session on investing in distressed debt at ULI’s Capital Markets Conference on June 7 in New York City by pointing out that the estimated $1 trillion in “overleveraged, underwater debt” slated to mature over the next six years overwhelms the approximately $300 billion targeting such deals. Only one in five deals might be a home run, he added.
06-11-12

Monday's Numbers: June 11, 2012

The Trepp LLC survey showed spreads widening 10 to 15 basis point solely in reaction to Treasury yields dropping, then regaining a little luster. With the 10-year Treasury trading at 1.64 percent (as of June 9) and spreads averaging 228 basis points, all-in cost remains in the very attractive 4.00 percent range, subject to floor pricing by most lenders.
06-08-12

Government Building Design Must Be Mindful of Urban Vitality and Public Use

Though the Guiding Principles for Federal Architecture still ring true after a half century, innovation is the key to the future success of public building design, say speakers at a recent GSA symposium.
06-08-12

London Planned its Olympic Village in Reverse

Anticipating that GDP will decline during the Olympic Games due to traffic chaos, London has planned in reverse, focusing on the opportunities presented for infrastructure and regeneration post-Games. Given London’s housing shortage, the Athletes' Village was designed to accommodate families and individuals and retrofitted for the athletes, not the other way round.
06-07-12

Ingenuity is Revolutionizing the Global Economy, Richard Florida tells ULI Europe

The “Great Reset,” driven by the decline of manufacturing in favor of knowledge economies, is bigger than the shift from agriculture to industry, said Richard Florida at ULI Europe’s Trends Conference.
06-06-12

Greening Senior Housing: Healthier Living and Healthier Finances

With over 50,000 senior housing developments across the country, the opportunities for energy reduction and financial savings achievable through retrofitting increasingly warrant serious consideration. Occupants should be involved from the start.
06-05-12

London after the Games

“Is London still relevant in the new global order, and can it continue to be a genuine world leader?” asks ULI Europe senior fellow Greg Clark. He considers the potential legacy from London’s hosting of the Olympic games and notes the wide gap between the city’s interest in fostering an enduring international attractiveness and the U.K.’s restrictive policies that do not suggest a tolerant global city.
06-04-12

ULI Real Estate Business Barometer -- June 2012

The top 12 trends in this month’s Barometer highlight a wavering economy, more down than up signals in the capital markets, mixed directions in property fundamentals, and a housing market that remains on a low simmer. Still, 76 percent of the key indicators in the Barometer are better than a year ago, 1 percent remain the same, and only 23 percent are worse.
06-04-12

Monday's Numbers: June 4, 2012

The Trepp LLC weekly and Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick-Goldman monthly surveys show that spreads have widened by 20+ basis points over the past month, partially to accommodate perceived increases in risk and partially to absorb the incredible decline in Treasury yields.
06-04-12

The Euro Crisis and the Real Estate Sector

If Greece were to exit the 17-nation union, the Eurozone's gross domestic product would fall by 2 percent, predicted Andrew Garthwaite, global equity strategist, investment banking, at Credit Suisse, at the ULI Europe Trends Conference in London last week. The effect would spread to Portugal, Italy, and Spain, he added.
06-03-12

Investment, Development Potential of China’s Inland Cities Is Rising

China’s emerging inland cities such as Chengdu, Wuhan, Xi’an, and Changsha are gaining attention for real estate investment and development opportunities, a trend that suggests a pullback from some of China’s mature coastal markets that are perceived as overbuilt, according to a report released by ULI at its inaugural Asia Pacific Summit in Beijing in May.
06-01-12

Four Goals to Guide ULI

May was a busy month for the Urban Land Institute. Our global reach was showcased at high-profile, back-to-back meetings in the United States, Asia, and Europe—each with a different focus, but all addressing the Institute’s core goal of creating vibrant communities for the 21st century.
06-01-12

In Print: Resilient Coastal City Regions: Planning for Climate Change in the United States and Australia

Both the United States and Australia face daunting risks from the effects of climate change.
06-01-12

In Print: Local Climate Action Planning

Local Climate Action Planning, a practical guide offering straight talk on how to navigate the sometimes foggy area of local planning for climate change, provides tested strategies and informative case studies for anyone concerned with reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapting to climate change effects such as rising sea levels.
06-01-12

Richard Florida Named ULI Senior Visiting Fellow

Urban theorist Richard Florida, author of numerous books on 21st century urban evolution, including The Rise of the Creative Class, Who’s Your City, and The Great Reset, has been named a ULI senior visiting fellow
06-01-12

ULI Foundation Chair James D. Klingbeil Honored

The Spring Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, was the last major ULI event with James D. Klingbeil as chairman of the ULI Foundation. Klingbeil’s term, which began in July 2006, concludes in July.
05-31-12

Building Flexibility into Mixed-Use Projects

Museum Place, a large-scale infill development on an 11-acre (4.5 ha) site assembled in the cultural district of Fort Worth, Texas, is designed to knit 11 new structures into a finer-grained urban fabric of streets to connect to nearby museums and surrounding uses so it can flexibly mix offices, retail space, hotel space, and housing.
05-30-12

ULX: The Power of Play

These ten facilities exemplify the hybrid nature of recreation centers, building on the synergy of shared uses and providing daylit, flexible communal spaces to tempt people away from their electronics and help them connect in the real world.
05-28-12

Monday's Numbers: May 28, 2012

The Trepp LLC survey showed spreads narrowing 3+/- basis points during a quiet week leading up to a three-day weekend. Average spreads of 215 basis points combined with “sub-2” percent 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds remains attractive to say the least.
05-25-12

Live, Work, Play: Getting Mixed-Use Development Right

“Mixed-use developments mean we stop thinking so much about buildings as buildings but as communities,” said Richard Vogel, senior vice president and general manager of Ivanhoe Cambridge China, at ULI's Asia Pacific Summit. These substantial and often iconic developments are a weighty undertaking, crucial to the regeneration and improvement of cities, particularly in rapidly urbanizing countries such as China and India.
05-24-12

The Demographic Divide: Challenges in China’s Senior Housing

In China, senior housing is a relatively new concept, and senior housing projects do not take account of the exact needs of this demographic group, said Sun Xiangshu, chairman of Beijing Victory Star Architectural & Civil Engineering Group, to a group at ULI's Asia Pacific Summit held in Beijing May 16-18. There will be no easy solutions to China's aging population problem, participants said.
05-23-12

Q&A with Stephen J. Furnary, Chairman and CEO, Clarion Partners

Stephen J. Furnary, chairman and CEO of Clarion Partners, discusses the major business decisions made in the 30-year history of Clarion Partners, including the buyback of Clarion from ING. Furnary also reveals what he sees for the short-term future in real estate.
05-22-12

Creating Self-Sustaining Communities

The "cell" or village concept is an effective design solution to a problem that Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, once identified: "All the implications of 'sprawl'...are driven by one fundamental problem: the mismatch between where we live and where we work."
05-21-12

Monday's Numbers: May 21, 2012

The Trepp LLC survey showed spreads unchanged during the most recent survey period as the markets spent the week either waiting on the Facebook initial public offering or the imminent default on its obligations by some or all of the southern portion of Europe.
05-21-12

Sustainability in Asia: A Conversation

Developers and academics joined ULI’s Asia Pacific Summit to parse the meaning of the industry’s hottest buzzword—sustainability—and try to give it meaning against the backdrop of the biggest ever building boom going on in China.
05-18-12

Developers Home in on Asia Investment Opportunities

Raymond Chow, executive director of Hongkong Land; Simon Treacy, group chief executive of MGPA; Patrick Philips, ULI's global chief executive; and Richard T.G. Price, Asia-Pacific chief executive of CBRE Global Investors, gathered at the ULI Asia Pacific Summit in Beijing to bring the region's gold rush mentality down to earth.
05-18-12

Focusing on Sustainable Development at ULI Summit in Beijing

If cities are to continue recovering from the global recession, then livability, flexibility, mobility and choice should remain strongly in focus as planners do their work in the years to come, ULI Chairman Peter Rummell tells delegates to the ULI Asia Pacific Summit in Beijing.
05-18-12

ULI Survey Gauges Development and Investment Prospects for China Cities

The five top-rated cities for investment prospects are Chengdu, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Wuhan, and Shenzhen, according to Mainland China Real Estate Markets 2012: ULI Analysis of City Investment Prospects, the second annual report on China cities released May 18 by ULI Asia.
05-17-12

When Europe Gets the Flu

The European debt crisis has an upside: lending and investment opportunities exist in prime markets, but not for the faint of heart. Both Scott Malkin of Value Retail and Van Stults of Orion Capital Managers agree that the ever-worsening conditions will create substantial opportunities for savvy international investors.
05-17-12

Bank of America Legend Hugh McColl Charts Charlotte’s Future

Private and public sector leaders of Charlotte, North Carolina, have transformed Charlotte’s downtown from a struggling, nine-to-five office center into the gleaming, modern mixed-use destination that it is today. Former Bank of America chairman Hugh McColl described this remarkable half-century journey to ULI Spring Meeting attendees, and presented his vision for the future.
05-17-12

Restructuring Retail in an Online World

Retailers face a multitude of challenges including online commerce with its 24/7 access. Panelists at the 2012 ULI Spring Meeting looked at significant steps major retailers have already taken to reshape the shopping experience for their customers, while integrating their physical stores with online sales.
05-17-12

Sustainable Urban Development More Important Than Ever

In a keynote address at the ULI Spring Meeting, scholar Paul Wolfowitz explained how two worldwide trends—urbanization and democratization—are elevating the importance of sustainable urban development.
05-16-12

Designing for an Aging Population

“The attributes of the single-family house are becoming obstacles to aging in place well,” with the distance from shops and services and the lack of walkability, said Ellen Dunham Jones, architecture professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “We need to link the needs of the aging population with dead big-box stores and dying malls.”
05-15-12

Clean Energy is Key to America’s Success

Former EPA Administrator Carol Browner in the opening session of the ULI Spring Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, told the audience that whoever leads the world in development of clean energy technology will lead the global economy. She noted that American private sector energy innovators are receiving lukewarm support from the Federal government.
05-15-12

Preparing for an Aging Population

The aging of American society is not a transitory phenomenon caused by baby boomers, said Jack Rowe, professor of health policy management at Columbia University, in a recent conference at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. “It’s a permanent structural change induced by greater longevity.” Core U.S. institutions, including housing, “are not engineered for the society we’re going to have,” he said.
05-14-12

Monday's Numbers: May 14, 2012

The Trepp LLC survey showed spreads widening as much as 15 basis points for no apparent reason we know of except, possibly, the continuing crises in Europe and concerns that the U.S. will catch their flu. Fortunately, money is plentiful with a majority of the widening of spreads offset by the lower yields on 10-year Treasury bonds.
05-11-12

Making Money in Residential Real Estate

Panelists at ULI’s Spring Meeting agreed that strategies never considered before are worth considering now in this market in which renting seems to have more appeal than buying. However, George Casey, chief executive officer at Orleans Homebuilders, noted that Orleans is building fewer models and foot traffic is slower per community, but sales are greater.
05-11-12

A Hybrid for a New Way of Life: The Home-Office Building

Telecommuters are an expanding workforce sector with needs different from those of typical workers. Many of these needs could be met by a new type of home-office building. In addition, energy efficiencies and an improved quality of life for telecommuters could be achieved.
05-10-12

A Competitive Finance Debate

ULI members Glenn Grimaldi, executive vice president of HSBC; David D. Clark, senior vice president, Real Estate, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.; and Kevin Pivnick, managing director, Deutsche Bank, all described a healthy mortgage market in which only the long shots are having trouble finding funding these days. In a session titled “Full Court Press on Commercial/Apartment Debt” at ULI's 2012 Spring Meeting, all three described how they each tend to look at potential deals a bit differently.
05-09-12

Government Has Two Choices: End the Ongoing Partisan Deadlock--or Face Economic Crisis

Erskine Bowles, former co-chair of the presidential fiscal commission, tells ULI leaders: “If we make tough choices and get our fiscal house in order, America can compete with the best and brightest in the world. But I’m equally confident that if we don’t, this country is on its way to being a second-rate power.”
05-09-12

Infrastructure 2012 Highlights Innovation

Constrained public budgets and a growing recognition at the local level of the importance of infrastructure—combined with lack of action at the federal level—are causing states, regions and cities across the U.S. to seek innovative infrastructure approaches and solutions. Infrastructure 2012: Spotlight on Leadership, released by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Ernst & Young LLP, looks at an overall decline in infrastructure funding globally, and it focuses on funding solutions underway in the U.S., citing six case studies.
05-09-12

Can America Eliminate Its Addiction to Fossil Fuels and Do So Without Congress?

Amory Lovins, cofounder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, told an audience of ULI members at ULI's 2012 Spring Meeting, that there are numerous ways to reduce use of fossil fuels. Doing so, corporate America could earn a $5 trillion savings in net present value and boost the economy by 150 percent.
05-08-12

Playing along the Railroad Tracks

Where does a city begin when it wants to develop public areas as a catalyst for revitalization when it is not located on a river, a lake, or an ocean? Birmingham, Alabama began with its railroad tracks, and that was just the beginning.
05-08-12

Public Art in Transit

The intangible benefits of public art are well-known, but often overlooked. Read how public art at two downtown Los Angeles transit-oriented developments came to generate ongoing income for a private developer and local government.
05-07-12

ULI Real Estate Business Barometer -- May 2012

The top 12 trends in this month’s Barometer highlight a tepid economy, uneven signals in the capital markets, and a housing market on a low simmer. Still, compared with a year ago, 76 percent of the key indicators in the Barometer are better, 1 percent remained the same, and only 23 percent are worse.
05-07-12

Monday's Numbers: May 7, 2012

According to the FTSE NAREIT Equity REIT Index, equity REITs produced total returns equal to 2.87 percent in April. The Trepp LLC survey showed spreads flat to widening by 5 basis points over the survey period as all-in costs remain attractive.
05-04-12

Community Development Outlook

Members of ULI’s Community Development Council speak about the impact of the slow economy, the increased appeal of smaller sites in denser locations, consumers’ current amenity preferences, the impact of ethnic and demographic changes, and the rising demand for housing that can accommodate multiple generations.
05-03-12

Guiding Those Who Teach the Guide Dogs

Members of the Young Leaders Group of ULI Orange County/Inland Empire put their skills to work helping those who help the disabled. They offered advice to Guide Dogs of the Desert, a Riverside County, California, nonprofit that pairs service dogs with people who are blind, with a plan for expanding its live-in training campus.
05-02-12

Smart Growth Not Enough?

The fact that we are increasing dwelling units per acre, reducing vehicle miles traveled per capita, and reducing tons of carbon emissions compared to sprawl does not mean that we are making great people habitat, posits Kaid Benfield, director, Sustainable Communities, Washington, D.C. Benfield says it is time to focus more on the quality of what we are building.
05-01-12

Building for the Needs of an Information-Based Economy

The desire of today’s creative class for connectivity, walkability and non-traditional live and work spaces is reshaping how designers, architects, and developers design homes and offices, says Christopher B. Leinberger, president of LOCUS, a real estate policy advocate for walkable and transit-oriented development.
04-30-12

Monday's Numbers: April 30, 2012

The Trepp LLC survey showed spreads widening over the past two weeks in response to the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds which narrowed by about 15 basis points. Lending spreads continue to move in a narrow range with overall cost attractive at all maturities and from a wide array of capital sources.
04-27-12

Craig Thomas: Viewing Real Estate Through “The Econosphere”

You cannot improve the market, but you can improve the information you rely upon, says The Econosphere author Craig Thomas.
04-27-12

Federal Government Shrinks Space Requirements

Federal agencies are under continuing pressure to reduce their demand for leased and build-to-suit space. They intend to reduce square footage used per employee, increase teleworking—and make better use of existing government buildings, administrators told a ULI WashingtonTrends conference audience.
04-26-12

Private Money for Public Spaces

Public/private partnerships can be used to create and restore public spaces, adding value to surrounding real estate. Bryant Park in Manhattan serves as a successful model of this. In Washington, D.C., a public/private partnership has been established to bring that improvement model to the National Mall.
04-25-12

Former Governor Eliot Spitzer: Intellectual Capital Drives the Economy

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will have little effect on U.S. real estate markets, says former governor Eliot Spitzer, because it is being “whittled away piece by piece.” Spitzer says it repeatedly has been demonstrated that self-regulation does not work and that it is the job of government.
04-24-12

Benchmarks for Sustainability

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