By using 3-D printers to build lightweight but strong plastic frameworks for conventional building materials such as concrete, builders may soon be able to create complex structures with unorthodox shapes and contours that would be difficult or even impossible with today’s construction methods, said a speaker at the ULI Fall Meeting in Dallas. And better yet, they will be able to fashion intricate, customized interiors and exteriors at no additional cost.
For midsized U.S. cities to compete successfully in the 21st-century global marketplace, it is crucial for governments to think beyond the tired strategy of luring away employers from other locales. Instead, city officials need to focus on land use and placemaking as ways to attract talent, generate new business opportunities, and consolidate economic and community development to enhance their brands, according to speakers at ULI’s 2016 Fall Meeting in Dallas.
A new ULI program that helps office tenants design and manage their spaces to reduce energy consumption could help the real estate industry reduce emissions that are driving climate change. But at the program’s rollout at ULI’s 2016 Fall Meeting in Dallas, panelists said that the new ULI Tenant Energy Optimization Program is likely to have a more far-reaching impact than that of many previous environmental initiatives because it offers a compelling, well-documented business case that energy efficiency can generate a lucrative return on investment.
In the near future, the real estate sector is likely to be disrupted by a host of technological advances ranging from artificial intelligence, driverless vehicles and the “internet of things,” to virtual reality (VR) applications that enable people thousands of miles apart to interact as if they were in the same room, according to a panel of experts at the 2016 ULI Fall Meeting in Dallas.
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is the most successful American template for how a major airport can become a core for real estate development and economic growth. Now, planning is taking it to a higher altitude.
In the late 2000s, Anthony E. Malkin, chairman and chief executive of Empire State Realty Trust, joined forces with a coalition of businesses and environmental organizations to launch an ambitious $20 million retrofit of the Empire State Building with the aim of reducing the iconic New York City office tower’s energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by more than one-third.
Developers around the world are enhancing their resorts with artificial water features, ranging from rivers to ski slopes. But coming up with unique attractions is an increasing challenge.
Since Congress legalized crowdfunding for real estate projects in 2012, the internet-based financing source has grown dramatically, from $396.4 million in 2013 to $2.5 billion in 2015, according to the Los Angeles–based research and advisory firm Massolutions.
When Americans are increasingly growing accustomed to ordering paper towels on Amazon Prime instead of going to Costco and summoning Uber rides on their phones rather than hailing cabs, on-demand services and instant gratification are quickly becoming the new normal.
While the use of big data is increasing in many industries, Nate Silver, founder and editor-in-chief of FiveThirtyEight, told attendees at the recent ULI Spring Meeting, “When you have more data, you have more opportunities to be wrong.”
Over the past half-century, west Philadelphia’s University City district—located across the Schuylkill River from Center City—has morphed from a blighted urban neighborhood into a thriving mixed-use hub for higher education, health care, and tech startups. In the process, it has become a template for other old industrial cities striving to remake themselves, said panelists speaking at the ULI Spring Meeting.
