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Brett Widness

Brett Widness is the managing editor of Urban Land. Previously, he worked in online editorial at the Washington Post, AARP, and AOL, now part of Yahoo!

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Issues and Trends
Summer Reads: Five Most Popular Articles for the First Half of 2025
We hope everyone is looking forward to warm-weather activities as summer has begun at ULI HQ in Washington, D.C. In case you missed it, we wanted to share the articles that resonated with the most readers in the first half of 2025.
July 1, 2025
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Brett Widness
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Development and Construction
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Multifamily
UL Interview: Cordish Companies’ COO Zed Smith on Hospitality and Thinking for the Long Term
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.
June 18, 2025
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Brett Widness
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Issues and Trends
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Leadership
Meeting the Challenge: Amy Purdy’s Story of Recovery, Resilience, and Giving Back
Three-time Paralympian medalist, Denver resident, bestselling author, and motivational speaker Amy Purdy shared her inspirational story during the closing session of the 2025 ULI Spring Meeting.
May 19, 2025
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Brett Widness
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Issues and Trends
From the ULI Archive: A Vision for Houston’s Astrodome
In 2014, a ULI Advisory Service panel made recommendations about the future use and preservation of Houston’s Astrodome, among the first indoor sports facilities in the world.
March 27, 2025
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Brett Widness
Data,Centers,Filled,With,Rows,And,Rows,Of,Servers,As
Development and Construction
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Data Centers
State of the Market: Atlanta Rivaling Northern Virginia for New Data Center Development
According to CBRE’s “North America Data Center Trends H2 2024" report, the overall vacancy rate in primary markets fell to a record-low 1.9 percent at year-end. Only a handful of facilities with 10 MW or more are slated for delivery in 2025 and are not yet leased, reflecting the scarcity of large-scale available inventory.
March 10, 2025
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Brett Widness
Building,Around,Crane,Construction,Equipment.,Construction,Of,Apartment,Building,From
Capital Markets and Finance
What Three Indicators Say About Where the U.S. Commercial Real Estate Market Ended 2024
Two of the three leading indicators for U.S. commercial real estate ended 2024 on an upbeat note, particularly on the lending and construction phase, while design billing continued to lag.
February 13, 2025
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Brett Widness
Skyscraper,Under,Construction,,With,Crane,On,Top,,For,Urban,And
Development and Construction
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Chicago
RLB Crane Index® North America for Q3 Sees Five Percent Decrease Since Q1
The construction landscape has largely held steady across the United States and Canada.
October 17, 2024
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Brett Widness
Melbourne,,Australia,-,20,June,,2024,:,Australia's,Third-largest,Supermarket,
Development and Construction
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Retail
In Brief: 25 Chain Retailers Expanding Across North America
The National Retail Federation’s Hot 25 Retailers ranks the nation’s fastest-growing retail companies. Rankings are determined by increases in domestic sales between 2022 and 2023; all retail companies with global sales in excess of $2 billion, and key format leaders were eligible. 
August 26, 2024
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Brett Widness
Atlanta,,Usa,-,July,2,,2024:,A,Red,Cvs,Pharmacy
Retail
In Brief: CVS, Walgreens Experimenting with Smaller Stores, Different Formats
While retail leasing in the United States has been healthy according to JLL’s Q2 data, retailers have shown a preference for smaller formats while repurposing some parking for other uses.
August 12, 2024
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Brett Widness
New,Year,2024,Or,Straight,Forward,Concept.,Text,2024,Written
Issues and Trends
Urban Land’s Top 5 Most Read Articles of H1 2024
From the Institute’s iconic Emerging Trends in Real Estate® United States and Canada 2024—to in-depth reporting on distressed debt and opportunities, the rise of industrial outdoor storage, and the “YIGBY” movement (“Yes, In God’s Backyard”), this ranked list reflects Urban Land magazine readers’ top choices for the first half of the year.
July 1, 2024
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Brett Widness
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