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The Manhattan office market is beginning to make a comeback, but much has changed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The persistence of hybrid and remote work have changed the equation for commercial rentals, both in terms of landlord-tenant relationships and the quality of office product on offer.

Nationwide, the urgent need for more affordable housing has become crystal clear. The United States is grappling with a housing crisis, and building affordable housing has become increasingly difficult. Developers face high construction costs, ongoing supply chain issues, and skyrocketing prices for land, especially in some of the country’s largest cities. Even when a project comes together and gets financing, the process to obtain permitting, gain city approvals, and actually construct a project can take years.

City is actively working to make its neighborhoods safer and more resilient to extreme rain events

When cities decline, they can take decades to recover, if they ever do. McKinsey’s research suggests that many U.S. cities could experience a steady downward trajectory without effective intervention. We find that some cities may take years to bounce back from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on real estate and the economy. But such a doom loop is far from inevitable; there are many examples of success that we can learn from. Indeed, while U.S. cities will differ from what they were before COVID-19, this is also an opportunity to shape them into more vibrant and equitable places.

One of New York City’s busiest corridors is set for one of its biggest transformations in years. The area around Manhattan’s Penn Station has long been considered a sore spot for the city, as top-tier retail stores moved to more flourishing areas and local buildings became outdated. But now, with a billion-dollar plan by a New York state agency underway to revitalize public transit infrastructure in and around Penn Station, there is serious momentum for the Midtown neighborhood, which has stalled in growth as surrounding neighborhoods have evolved.

Tattooed, tanned, and tousled, 48-year-old Stefan Quinn Soloviev looks like an athletic nerd who stepped out of a Mad Max film, but don’t let his appearance fool you. Soloviev is one of the largest landowners in the United States—number 21, according to Landreport.com—with a portfolio that includes some of Manhattan’s most coveted properties.

Federal funding opportunities through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are supporting essential investments in green and resilient infrastructure, with the potential to create more livable communities while also supporting successful real estate developments through enhanced aesthetics, improved building user experiences, and operational efficiencies.

Since 2017, the ULI Health Leaders Network has served as a platform for cross-sector professionals looking to grow their leadership skills, make meaningful connections, and drive progress in health and social equity. Welcoming thirty new members to the Network, Cohort 7 joins a global community of practice of over 200 professionals. Spanning 24 cities and 6 different countries, the new cohort represents a diverse range of real estate, land use, design, policy, and public health professionals. To learn more about the individual Cohort 7 members, explore their profiles and biographies here.

Construction codes are pushing new buildings toward net zero, but roughly 80 percent of the expected 2050 building stock already exists today and needs to undertake major upgrades to meet emissions limits in line with the Paris Agreement. To address this issue, cities and states across the U.S. have started to limit emissions from existing buildings with regulations known as Building Performance Standards (BPS).

Georgetown University’s one-year master’s program in Global Real Assets offers a finance-oriented degree that integrates real estate, infrastructure, and sustainability.

How we use words is important. Words can describe both racial inequities and the efforts to remedy them. As the real estate industry continues the work to dismantle systemic racism, it’s critical to be intentional about language.

The natural reaction to hearing that a product or material has been made with the assistance of modern slavery is to flinch in horror and perhaps disbelief. Unfortunately, the construction industry is ranked second—just behind domestic service—as a problematic industry in terms of its risk of relying on forced labor, according to the 2022 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery, Forced Labour and Forced Marriage report from the International Labour Organization in Geneva.

Since the publication of Building Small: A Toolkit for Real Estate Entrepreneurs, Civic Leaders, and Great Communities in 2021, author and developer Jim Heid has continued to grow the building Small movement. Last year, he launched a free-yet-private online platform that serves as an interactive network where like minds solve the big problems of building Small.

Since the retirement of Urban Land Institute’s Global CEO Ron Pressman in October 2023, the search for a visionary global leader has taken center stage. As the Institute charts its course in shaping the built environment for transformative impact within communities worldwide, finding the right leader is paramount.

Holcim Foundation is equipping the next generation of building practitioners to become impactful voices of change.

At the ULI Carolinas meeting held in February, the annual closing session Crane Watch highlighted six projects nearing completion that are poised to have a significant impact on each market. From a school of medicine innovation district to transit-oriented development to affordable housing and services for those with disabilities, these projects were recognized for their dynamic placemaking and innovative design.

Since assuming office in 2018, Assessor Fritz Kaegi has overseen the assessment of all residential and commercial properties in Cook County, the region in northeastern Illinois that includes Chicago.

New Yorkers have gotten used to watching the sun set behind the piers and towers of Jersey City, the major metropolis of New Jersey’s so-called Gold Coast. But for many years, Jersey City’s glittering line of luxury apartments and office blocks stopped at the water’s edge. Tucked behind modern high-rises, the rest of the city was a patchwork of charming historic districts, aging apartment buildings, public housing, and contaminated, abandoned industrial sites.

Urban Land is spotlighting some trailblazing women in commercial real estate, all of whom are members of the ULI Women’s Leadership Initiative. Emma West, partner at Toronto-based Bousfields Inc., says it was the women who were part of the WLI Toronto Committee when she first joined who were instrumental in her professional development.

Real estate economists’ outlook on the U.S. economy has improved over the past six months as economic data remain strong, and the long-predicted economic slowdown has failed to materialize. Responses to the latest semi-annual ULI Real Estate Economic Forecast survey, increasingly suggest a soft landing for the economy. In contrast, real estate market projections have declined as high-interest rates are expected to continue putting downward pressure on valuations and drag on performance in the near term.

As the recent cultural and real estate realignment called “The Great Mall Sorting” continues, A-plus malls are thriving, while the B and C properties are gradually being repurposed, reused, and completely rethought, according to architect Sean Slater, senior principal at the architectural firm RDC in San Diego.

The number of women who have joined ULI has more than doubled in recent years, from 20 percent of ULI’s nearly 28,000 members to more than 13,000 female members, which equates to 29 percent of the organization’s 45,000 members. In celebration of this growth, Urban Land is spotlighting some trailblazing women in commercial real estate, all of whom are members of the ULI Women’s Leadership Initiative. Julie Smith, chief administrative officer at Maryland-based Bozzuto and a former ULI District Council Leader, is among them.

Once overlooked as little more than open-air spaces for trailer parking, industrial outdoor storage (IOS) sites are emerging as a promising niche for their increasingly significant role in the e-commerce and logistics sectors and their potential to earn strong returns for investors.

Demand for industrial space has pushed vacancies to historically low levels. But the high tide may no longer be lifting all boats. A surge in new supply along with a growing appetite for more modern facilities is putting more pressure on the sector’s aging building stock. Legacy buildings are having a tougher time keeping up with the changing demands of today’s space users.

A general session at the ULI Carolinas Meeting, moderated by Risa Wilkerson of Healthy Places by Design, showcased how the convergence of the built environment, health and equity forms a complex web that impacts every facet of human life. Dr. Malo Andrew Hutson, a distinguished academic at the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture, provided a deep dive into how residential segregation and the built environment contribute to health disparities.

Many populations and regions face well-documented housing affordability challenges. For college students, specifically, the lack of options located on or near campus creates an additional hurdle in achieving their higher education goals. The inability to affordably live close to school has a huge impact on their time, performance, expense, and quality of life—not to mention increased output of greenhouse gases. Perkins & Will is partnering with the University of California San Diego (UCSD), which receives the second-largest of number applications of any university, nationwide, to help those students by designing the largest on-campus housing project in the country.

Potential trouble brewing in a sector that has been viewed as relatively bulletproof multifamily sector is concerning. But while stress is very much real, industry participants are quick to point out that the overall foundation for multifamily remains strong. “The cracks that we’re seeing are not structural; they’re superficial,” says Vincent DiSalvo, chief investment officer at Kingbird Investment Management, a family office investment firm specializing in multifamily.

ULI is proud to announce that we have joined MEP 2040 as a supporting organization. MEP 2040 is a movement to radically reduce total carbon emissions associated with Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) systems through collective action. “The embodied carbon associated with MEP systems is a burgeoning topic in real estate ESG. ULI is proud to support MEP2040 in its efforts to radically reduce total carbon emissions associated with building systems. We applaud the work of MEP engineering and design firms who have made the MEP2040 commitment and urge the broader industry to join the movement and advance real estate’s journey to net zero,” said Marta Schantz, co-executive director of ULI’s Randall Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate.

Despite the monetary headwinds and continued economic uncertainty around the world, there is a strong belief that the global real estate industry is at a “pivot point,” with improving prospects ahead for renewed investment activity, according to the latest Emerging Trends in Real Estate^® Global Outlook 2024 from PwC and the Urban Land Institute.

The mental and physical benefits of being close to bodies of water—or “blue space”—have made headlines amid growing consumer interest in health and wellness. Scientific studies have shown the positive impacts of living and spending time near oceans, lakes, ponds, and rivers—benefits including reduced stress and anxiety, improved sleep, and generally a healthier and more active lifestyle.