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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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Development and Construction
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Historic Preservation
Yesterday’s Factories, Today’s Apartments: Multifamily Conversions Reach All-Time High in the United States
Nearly 800 structures were converted to apartment buildings during the 2010s, the highest number in the past seven decades, according to research by data provider Yardi Matrix. Chicago tops the list of U.S. cities with the most adaptive-use apartment buildings, whereas New York City is home to the most converted apartment units in total.
November 4, 2020
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Brett Widness
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Fall Meeting
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Capital Markets and Finance
African American Real Estate Professionals Recount Development Challenges and Successes
A three-part series of interviews at the 2020 ULI Virtual Fall Meeting examines the issues that have led to underinvestment in neighborhoods that have been predominantly African American, displacement that can occur as part of gentrification, and other topics.
October 15, 2020
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Brett Widness
Market Trends
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Emerging Trends
The View from the Economist: Planning for the 90 Percent Economy
Zanny Minton Beddoes, editor in chief of the Economist, outlined several trends accelerated by the global COVID-19 pandemic in a presentation at the 2020 ULI Virtual Fall Meeting.
October 15, 2020
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Brett Widness
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In Depth
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Emerging Trends
Improve Access to Education and Better Health for a Brighter American Future, Says Political Analyst Bakari Sellers
Speaking at the 2020 ULI Virtual Fall Meeting, CNN political analyst and former state representative from South Carolina Bakari Sellers said he has two questions for America in 2020: “How far have we come, and where do we go from here?” Sellers was elected to the lower house of South Carolina’s state legislature in 2006 at the age of 22, defeating a 26-year incumbent and becoming the youngest African American elected U.S. official at the time.
October 14, 2020
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Brett Widness
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Design and Planning
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News
In Brief: Understanding the Regulatory Landscape for Increasing High-Rise Modular Construction
Arup has developed a report, commissioned by the Canadian Standards Association, analyzing the state of the high-rise modular construction industry. Demand for modular construction in North America has increased in response to urbanization, pressure on housing affordability, construction labor shortages, and persistently stagnant construction productivity.
September 3, 2020
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Brett Widness
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Economy, Market & Trends
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Retail/Entertainment
Drawing High-End Consumers Back to Mixed-Use Retail
In a discussion of the ongoing transformation of U.S. retail, panelists participating in the 2020 ULI Spring Meeting Webinar Series agreed that the authenticity, differentiation, and transparency creating a sense of place in mixed-use retail spaces are likely to be what consumers seek in the future. Single-use spaces are about convenience, but that is only half of what consumers say they are looking for.
May 27, 2020
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Brett Widness
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Economy, Market & Trends
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Residential
In Brief: Where the Residential Growth Has Been in U.S. Neighborhoods
RCLCO’s Neighborhood Atlas framework initially examined the 50 largest metropolitan areas in the country to classify each of their suburbs into one of five categories. RCLCO has expanded its analysis to cover six different types of urban neighborhoods as well, expanding to 100 of America’s largest metropolitan areas.
May 27, 2020
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Brett Widness
Issues and Trends
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Economy, Market & Trends
In Brief: London and Hong Kong Remain the Most Expensive Cities for Construction
New York and San Francisco are the most expensive cities in the United States for construction, according to Arcadis’s 2020 International Construction Cost Index, produced by international design and consultancy firm Arcadis. Both are in the top five internationally, with London, Hong Kong, and Geneva leading the list overall.
May 11, 2020
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Brett Widness
Philanthropic Impact
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Economy, Market & Trends
Audio: Leading Voices in Real Estate
ULI Los Angeles recently hosted a recording of Leading Voices in Real Estate, a podcast hosted by Matt Slepin, founder managing partner of Terra Search and a ULI Foundation Governor. Now in its third year, this podcast also recently featured Spencer Levy, chairman of Americas Research and senior economic advisor for CBRE, talking about COVID-19 and the early signs of impact on the commercial real estate market.
March 30, 2020
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Brett Widness
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Resilience and Sustainability
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News
In Brief: Recognizing Tree Cities of the World
The Arbor Day Foundation and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have announced the first cities to be recognized through the Tree Cities of the World program, including Paris, Toronto, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. A total of 59 cities earned this international designation.
March 6, 2020
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Brett Widness
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