At ULI Chicago’s October gathering at the new 73-story 1000M apartment tower, located at 1000 S. Michigan Ave., key members of the building’s development, architecture and construction teams hosted a tour of the project and enlightened attendees with a panel discussion on the history behind the skyscraper’s signature cantilever.
Experts from Hines, JBG Smith, and Gensler anchored a McKinsey & Company panel, Reimagining mixed-use districts: strategies for new developments in an ever-changing world, at the 2024 ULI Fall Meeting last month. Panelists explored innovative ideas and case studies to illustrate how to make complex mixed-use projects work in today’s market.
After a quiet first half of 2024, CMBS originations increased 59 percent in Q3 on a year-over-year basis, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Quarterly Survey.
A new report by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and Heitman, a global real estate investment management firm, explores the impact of rising insurance costs on commercial real estate, strategies for managing those costs, and related considerations for industry participants.
Best Practices
“Investors are increasingly looking at airports as lucrative opportunities,” said Steve Forrer, chief investment officer at Aviation Facilities Management Company. “When you position an airport development correctly, it can draw in a wide range of businesses, from tech startups to established global firms,” he said.
Conversions of office buildings for residential uses are becoming increasingly viable in some regions. According to Steven Paynter, a principal at Gensler who leads the firm’s global building transformation and adaptive use practice, office-to-residential conversions are viable in 25–30 percent of the buildings his team analyzes.
On Wednesday, during the ULI Fall Meeting’s final day at Resorts World Las Vegas, a panel of commercial real estate experts gathered onstage in the Resorts World Theater to forecast the industry’s trajectory through 2026.
Industry Voices
Seasoned executive shares passion for the built environment
By leveraging multifaceted expertise, teams can develop robust solutions that address multiple challenges with less effort. This approach leads to design interventions that generate co-benefits, strengthening resilience by considering it in every aspect of the project.
Some commercial real estate owners face rising costs due to climate risk
Sponsored
The U.S. multifamily market was on fire in 2021 and 2022, a time when rent growth hit record highs due to soaring demand. But the market has since come back down to Earth as fundamentals stabilized. Now, amid ongoing high interest rates, heightened deliveries of supply, and deceleration of job growth, many multifamily investors are exploring different strategies to diversify their portfolios, add revenue, take advantage of opportunities, and maintain a competitive edge.
As Baby Boomers continue to retire, having a concrete plan ensures businesses will continue to thrive
Capital Markets and Finance
When the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed into law a little more than two years ago, it was celebrated by many who work in the real estate industry as a crucial tool for encouraging and offsetting the cost of green buildings. The tax incentives offer a lot of opportunities for owners and developers to cut expenditures, sometimes significantly, in a time when interest rates and the cost of construction remain high. Navigating the various incentives and programs has broadly proved challenging, however, and experts hope to spark more awareness around the benefits of the IRA and how to move past common obstacles.
Over the last 18 months, commercial real estate loans have been maturing at a torrid rate, in a rapidly evolving marketplace. Although economic growth remains resilient, commercial real estate oversupply, growth in operating expenses, higher leverage, and the cost of debt are creating headwinds for commercial real estate asset values. Moreover, roughly $2 trillion in commercial real estate loans will mature by the end of 2026.
A one-two punch is hitting condo owners and associations in Florida, forcing some to sell to cash buyers at massive discounts or risk foreclosure. The setback could have national implications.
In early April 2024, Small Change, an investment crowdfunding platform for real estate development with social impact, and Boston Real Estate Inclusion Fund (BREIF) jointly announced an investment opportunity in a $430 million life sciences building under development by Related Beal. The property—at 22 Drydock Avenue, in Boston’s Seaport District—is slated to be the city’s first life sciences building to achieve LEED Platinum and net-zero carbon emissions.
In May, Barry Sternlicht capped investors’ ability to exit his $10 billion real estate fund—a strategic move to avoid a fire sale of properties at a less-than-ideal time. Sternlicht lowered the limit on monthly withdrawals from Starwood Real Estate Income Trust (SREIT). That limit, previously 2 percent, went to 0.33 percent of net asset value (NAV), the value of SREIT’s assets minus its debt.
Philanthropy
Joseph E. Brown, a pioneering landscape architect, urban planner, and ULI Life Trustee who championed innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration to solve challenges in the built environment, has passed away at the age of 77. A ULI member for more than three decades, Brown served in many leadership roles in the organization and was a tireless champion of his home district council, ULI San Francisco.
ULI has announced the appointment of Mick Cornett, the former mayor of Oklahoma City, as the ULI Canizaro/Klingbeil Fellow for Urban Development. Cornett served as mayor of Oklahoma City from 2005 to 2018, leading a major redevelopment plan for the urban core, securing an NBA franchise to the city, creating an entertainment district that now attracts 2 million visitors a year, and generating 80,000 new jobs.
Institute trustee and Foundation governor was a force in Denver real estate