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.
Whether they are increasing representation of women in the real estate industry, educating students and public officials about development, or helping local communities find solutions to their infrastructure needs, the programs that donors support by contributing to the ULI Foundation have a powerful impact.
Economic and workplace upheaval from the COVID-19 pandemic took a heavy toll on urban causing lasting changes that present a major challenge to the commercial real estate industry. But the crisis also created an opportunity for aging single-use business districts to reinvent themselves as mixed-use neighborhoods, according to panelists at ULI’s Fall Meeting in Los Angeles. The panel was moderated by Diane Hoskins, ULI global chair and co-CEO of global design firm Gensler co-CEO.
A few years ago, veteran multifamily real estate developer and longtime ULI member Preston Butcher was on a street in Mountain View, California, when an unusual sort of housing complex caught his attention. LifeMoves Mountain View was something different, consisting of 100 small, boxy, modular dwellings that provide separate units for single adults, couples, and families experiencing homelessness, as well as support services and case management designed to help the residents eventually regain stability in their lives.
University of Southern California is one of numerous U.S. colleges and universities that are expanding their presence in cities, sometimes far from their main campuses.
Innovative technology platforms already are helping many owners operate apartment buildings more efficiently and improve services for tenants. But experts say that is just the start of a revolution that could transform the multifamily segment.
For some members of the ULI Foundation’s Governors Society, philanthropic giving is a way to support the Institute’s efforts to remedy the worldwide shortage of attainable housing, reduce carbon output to fight climate change, and educate a diverse future generation of leaders for the real estate profession. For other governors, their philanthropy is a gesture of gratitude for the role that ULI has played in their professional careers and achievements, or a way to honor friends they made through the organization. And some just want to be an inspiration to other ULI members.
Ethnic and cultural diversity, combined with a reputation as a welcoming place for immigrants, has long been a strength of the Greater Toronto Area—and it has also influenced the city’s development, panelists cautioned at ULI’s 2023 Spring Meeting.
