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Although developers are skilled at building senior living communities that satisfy basic residential and health care needs, and that provide programs and amenities to cater to a variety of lifestyles, creating authentic, home-like environments that feel instantaneously familiar for this younger cohort is far more challenging. Such nuanced characteristics are distinctions in the market and can greatly ease the transition into senior living communities, not only for individuals, regardless of acuity level, but also for their families.

From resilient parks to bold adaptive reuse, this year’s winners redefine urban innovation and community impact across the Americas

The new ULI report explores how developers can find both profit and purpose by embracing the potential of existing buildings, illustrated through three case studies that generated tangible value for communities and investors alike.

Five experts from ULI’s Residential Neighborhood Development Council discuss the challenges and opportunities ahead for homebuilders; what buyers and renters want from their neighborhoods, and how they value sustainability and resilience; what state and local housing policies are effectively encouraging housing construction; and other trends.

At the ULI Spring Meeting 2025 session “Mastering Innovation: Tech-Driven Transformation of Planned Communities,” two prominent community developers—Laura Cole, senior vice president at Lakewood Ranch, and Fred Balda, president of Hillwood Communities—discussed how digital tools and data are reshaping large-scale developments. Moderated by Cecilian Partners’ Philip Worland, the conversation highlighted the role of technology in revolutionizing both front-end and back-end operations in the master-planned community (MPC) sector.

Zed Smith is the chief operating officer for The Cordish Companies. In that capacity—now for almost a decade—Smith oversees all aspects of the company’s operating properties portfolio, which includes numerous high-profile entertainment, mixed-use, and sports-anchored developments located in urban communities nationwide. Many of those developments have been transformative, thanks to their economic and cultural impact.

Top 10 takeaways from ULI’s Health Leaders Network Alumni Convening in the Netherlands

At the 2025 ULI Asia Pacific Summit—May 26–29, in Hong Kong—a panel of Asian economic and geopolitical experts addressed one of today’s most immediate global concerns: the implications of U.S.–China economic decoupling and the broader geopolitical shifts reshaping global trade and investment.

10 inventive designs put housing within reach of low- and moderate-income individuals and families

A panel of sustainability experts recently gathered at the 2025 ULI Resilience Summit in Denver to discuss how the insurability of affordable housing can be greatly enhanced by using resilient construction.

President Donald Trump has said that his administration is working to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and end the government-controlled conservatorship of the two that has been in place since the 2008 housing crash. The plan being floated involves taking the two entities public while retaining key U.S. government guarantees to backstop loans.

At the Urban Land Institute’s 2025 Spring Meeting in Denver, real estate leaders gathered to share critical lessons learned from the catastrophic wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles in January. The panel, “Rebuilding Resilience: A Conversation with Leaders on Lessons from the Los Angeles Wildfires,” emphasized the importance of swift disaster response and collaborative approaches, as members unveiled the influential Project Recovery: Rebuilding Los Angeles After the January 2025 Wildfires report, which they hope will serve as a blueprint for other cities facing disasters.

As it contends with the same post-pandemic challenges that confront other urban cores nationwide, downtown Denver is leveraging public/private partnerships to bring back vitality. At the ULI 2025 Spring Meeting in Denver, Colorado, five leaders involved with the city’s revitalization shared recent successes and plans for Denver’s future.

In the aftermath of January’s devastating Eaton and Palisades fires, Los Angeles faces a daunting challenge: how to rebuild not only homes but also the infrastructure that underpins entire communities—from water and electrical distribution systems to damaged sewers and streets to community essentials such as trees, parks, and libraries. The scale of the infrastructure challenge is immense.

ULI has launched C Change for Housing, a major new pan-European program designed to mobilize the real estate industry around two of society’s most urgent and interconnected challenges: the climate crisis and housing affordability.

At the 2025 ULI Spring Meeting, leaders from Oxland Group, Taylor Morrison, and Highland Homes convened for a panel titled “The New Builder/Developer Dynamic: Partnering for Success in a Shifting Market.” Tom Woliver, co-president and founder of Oxland Group, moderated the discussion with Erik Heuser, chief corporate operations officer for Taylor Morrison, and Jeff Stinson, senior vice president of Highland Homes.

The Johns Hopkins Institute for Planetary Health is poised to host the inaugural event of the 2025 Planetary Health Cities Symposium in Washington, D.C., on June 16. This event aims to address the urgent challenges posed by the degradation of Earth’s natural systems and the impact on human health and well-being. (

Fourteen developments from across Asia have been named winners of the 2025 ULI Asia Pacific Awards for Excellence, one of the real estate industry’s most prestigious honors. Announced at the 2025 ULI Asia Pacific Summit held in May in Hong Kong, this year’s award winners include projects in Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, the Philippines, and Singapore.

Becoming an architect was always the goal for ULI Global Chair Diane Hoskins. “I’ve always loved buildings,” she said during the WLI Americas Presents a View from the Top session at the ULI 2025 Spring Meeting in Denver, Colorado, where she was interviewed by Emma West, partner at Bousfields Inc. and ULI Chair of the Women’s Leadership Initiative’s Americas Executive Committee.

The setup is printed on the game board: “The empty piece of land was previously occupied by a large shopping mall. After years of decline, the mall was eventually closed and left abandoned. Its closure created a clean slate—free of historical preservation concerns and extensive land remediation—offering a blank canvas for the future development of this community.”

UrbanPlan is a hands-on simulation used to empower participants to shape the future of their built environment by more fully understanding the complex dynamics of urban development and the market and nonmarket forces that shape it. Established 21 years ago in collaboration with the Fisher Center of Real Estate and Urban Economics at the University of California, Berkeley, UrbanPlan was piloted in the Bay Area as a curriculum for high school and university students. The program now includes a variety of formats, including workshops for public officials and community members, and hosts programs throughout the United States and Canada, Europe, Asia and the United Kingdom.

Winning proposal reimagines Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Waterfront as a model for sharing cities, where density drives innovation and inclusive urban living.

Experts explore new underwriting models and tax increment financing districts to fund the rebuilding of homes and infrastructure

At the recent Homeless to Housed Symposium—part of the ULI 2025 Spring Meeting in Denver, Colorado—Jeff Olivet, a prominent expert in advancing solutions to homelessness, delivered a keynote address. In it, he not only contextualized the current state of homelessness in the United States but also provided a foundational framework for the forthcoming 10 Principles for Addressing Homelessness: A Guide for Commercial Real Estate & Finance.

At a panel at the 2025 ULI Spring Meeting in Denver, Colorado, legal experts shared their insights on how developers, planners, and housing advocates can better navigate the myriad barriers and evolving legal framework at federal, state, and local levels to advance affordable housing projects and initiatives.

In an exciting development for women’s sports in Denver, Colorado, the city council recently approved a $70 million infrastructure grant to purchase and ready a site for construction of a new stadium dedicated to a new National Women’s Soccer League team. This initiative marks a significant milestone not only for women’s soccer but also for the community at large, as it aims to empower women’s sports and create a vibrant hub for activities revolving around them.

As practitioners in the industry, we can all too easily reduce our thoughts about housing to the practical machinations of our work. Decisions are often made to serve regulatory agencies and capital providers, and to find the cheapest and fastest path to completion. We mustn’t lose sight of the fact that our job is to create places that serve real-life human needs.

Experts encourage the creation of community rebuilding authorities and
other measures to ensure the best-case scenario for recovery after January’s wildfires

Downtown Atlanta is experiencing nothing short of a major renaissance. Now, one of its most iconic addresses is being remade into a modern classic, thanks to the transformation of the former CNN Center.

Nestled in the forested hills west of Napa Valley, Enchanted Hills Camp—which is owned by LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired—has provided unparalleled recreational opportunities and skills training for blind and low-vision campers of all ages since 1950. After the devastating Napa wildfires of 2017 destroyed more than 25 structures and in excess of 900 trees on the property, the camp was not only rebuilt but also reimagined.