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The multifamily sector is successfully weathering the pandemic and construction continues to boom, leading the commercial real estate industry’s overall recovery. But development doesn’t appear even across multifamily market segments.

Why sustainability is so important.

ULI Cincinnati’s Real Estate Accelerator Lab (REAL) is a nine-month program beginning in September and ending in May of the following calendar year. Program participants are chosen to bring together a diverse class with a focus on leadership and those typically underrepresented in the real estate development industry.

ULI MEMBER—ONLY CONTENT:The Winter 2022 issue of Urban Landis now available for ULI members. The cover topic is “Outlook 2022: Real Estate Proves Resilient.”

A warm December fueled tornadoes and other storms to bring the total number of multi-billion dollar disasters to 20 for 2021, as reported by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the second-highest annual number since 1980.

ULI Asia Pacific, together with its member co-chairs, has announced the formation of three new product councils this quarter: Industrial and Logistics, Transit-Oriented Development and Infrastructure, and Office.

Former ULI Global Chairman Owen Thomas, CEO of Boston Properties, joined Matt Slepin, founder and managing partner of Terra Search and a ULI Foundation Governor, for a recent episode of Leading Voices in Real Estate. Thomas discussed his commitment to the industry in key leadership positions, including serving as the immediate past Global Chair of the Urban Land Institute and his significant contribution to ULI’s Net Zero Imperative Initiative working to reduce our industry’s carbon footprint.

Real estate developers and policymakers can promote equity, environmental resilience, and economic mobility by investing in forward-looking infrastructure, according to a new report from ULI. The report, Prioritizing Effective Infrastructure-Led Development, from the ULI Curtis Infrastructure Initiative, provides a comprehensive framework as the United States prepares to make its largest infrastructure investment in a generation.

Commercial and multifamily mortgage originators anticipate 2022 will be another strong year of borrowing and lending, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2022 Commercial Real Estate Finance Outlook Survey. Every commercial/multifamily firm polled expects originations to increase in 2022, with almost two-thirds (63 percent) expecting an overall increase of 5 percent or more across the entire market.

Real estate industry experts anticipate a growing acceptance of, and scope of responsibility for, the race to net zero in 2022, according to ULI Global Sustainability Outlook 2022, a new report from the ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance in collaboration with Ferguson Partners.

Over the last decade, the number of women members of ULI has more than doubled, in part due to the success of the Institute’s Women’s Leadership Initiative.

In 2015, North American Properties acquired Colony Square with plans to tear down the old office atrium and food court, double the amount of open space, and introduce resort-level hospitality, entertainment, and dining to the property.

A Utah developer includes townhouses to densify one block in the downtown of a new community southwest of Salt Lake City.

U.S. senior housing occupancy increased for the second consecutive quarter and rose to 81.0 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021, a 1.0 percentage point increase from the third quarter and a 2.3 percentage point increase from a pandemic-related low of 78.7 percent in the second quarter, according to data from 31 metropolitan markets covered by the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care.

According to RCLCO’s survey data, home sales in the 50 top-selling U.S. master-planned communities grew by a modest 5 percent compared to 2020, with a 14 percent decrease in sales during the second half of the year compared to the first.

An area in the Old Oakland neighborhood in downtown Oakland, California, will be the study site for the 20th annual ULI Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition.

Dealmakers and capital providers seemed thrilled with the overall state of the U.S. commercial real estate industry at the ULI/McCoy Symposium on Real Estate Finance, an invitation-only discussion held in early December 2021 in New York City.

Three longtime ULI members and leaders have joined to make $17 million in inaugural contributions to the ULI Chair’s Fund. Former ULI Foundation chair James D. Klingbeil is donating $7 million through the Klingbeil Family Foundation, and past ULI global chair Thomas W. Toomey and former ULI Foundation chairman Douglas D. Abbey are contributing $5 million each. The three participated in a recent Zoom roundtable during which they discussed how ULI has influenced their lives and careers.

As we close the books on the year, we wanted to look back on the topics that resonated with the readers of Urban Landonline in the past year. Here are the top five most popular articles from 2021.

At the 2021 ULI Fall Meeting, experts from Nuveen Real Estate and Boston Properties shared strategies, case studies, and results of efforts to achieve operational net zero at the asset and portfolio levels.

The first global benchmark of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) metrics for commercial real estate shows that there is a clear mandate and momentum, with 92 percent of firms adopting programs or initiatives to improve DEI in the workplace. The Global Real Estate DEI Survey is the industry’s first global collection of corporate best practices and employee demographics for commercial real estate.

A broad range of stakeholders representing renter households and property owners agree that proactive efforts are necessary to protect the security of renters and allow property owners/managers to viably steward and operate their properties, according to a new ULI report. Stable Residents, Stable Propertiesconcludes that finding common ground among stakeholders in the rental market is critical to creating sound housing policy as the United States struggles to improve resident stability amid a nationwide housing shortage and the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sonoma County, California, can enhance its ability to withstand and recover from wildfires by re-envisioning its land use, energy, and housing policies through a cooperative and equity-focused framework, according to a report released today by ULI. The report is based on recommendations from a panel of land-use and resilience experts convened in April through ULI’s Virtual Advisory Services panel offering.

ULI Chicago, with support from the City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development, is in the process of conducting two Technical Assistance Panels as part of the City of Chicago’s Central City recovery planning efforts. In partnership with DPD and The Magnificent Mile Association, ULI Chicago convened a multi-disciplinary panel of real estate development experts to develop recommendations for redevelopment in the City of Chicago’s downtown.

In Denver’s Lower Downtown (LoDo) neighborhood, an interesting addition to the urban fabric has emerged over the past five years in the form of activated streets and alleyways that serve as a connective tissue for art, entertainment, culture, and gathering. In early October, ULI Colorado’s Building Healthy Places committee hosted a panel to discuss our new age of activated alleyways.

Ada County, Idaho, can revitalize the 247-acre (100 ha) historic Expo Idaho site by preserving and expanding unique natural resources, celebrating the area’s agricultural heritage, and embracing complementary uses for the space, according to a report released by ULI. The report is based on recommendations from a panel of land use and resilience experts convened in June through the Institute’s Virtual Advisory Services Panel offering.

The Dodge Momentum Index fell 4 percent in November to 171.7, down from the revised October reading of 178.1. In November, U.S. commercial planning fell 8 percent while institutional planning moved 5 percent higher.

In 2021, the New York City Housing Authority enlisted the help of ULI New York and the Institute’s Urban Resilience Program through a virtual technical assistance panel to assess how to boost climate resilience at one of its residential campuses, Marlboro Houses, in the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn. Home to more than 4,000 New Yorkers, the site was damaged by Superstorm Sandy, with residents experiencing basement flooding and heat and power outages lasting up to a week.

Three longtime ULI leaders have joined up to donate a total of $17 million to launch the ULI Chair’s Fund. Douglas D. Abbey, James D. Klingbeil, and Thomas W. Toomey have created the unrestricted fund to give the Institute the flexibility to respond quickly to new opportunities as it delivers on its mission of shaping the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide.

Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan are expected to recover swiftly from pandemic shocks over the next three years, according to ULI Real Estate Economic Forecast for the Asia Pacific region covering 2021 to 2023.