Theodore Thoerig

Theodore Thoerig, a ULI associate, is author of Best Practices in Development: ULI Award Winning Projects 2009.

With a few tweaks to the development plan, Kai Tak—a decommissioned airport—can become the vibrant, mixed-use community the Hong Kong government wants it to be, says a ULI advisory services panel.
At ULI’s 2011 Fall Meeting, a panel explored the connection between parks and real estate value, explaining the planning, design, and management techniques for creating successful urban parks. The creation of urban open space is increasingly recognized as a value generator for real estate, read about what the panel stressed as the best success for transformative success.
At ULI’s 2011 Fall Meeting in Los Angeles late last month, a panel of experts shared their thoughts on emerging real estate trends, leadership in a global real estate marketplace, and what they see for the future of the real estate industry. Read more to learn why global business strategies and an ever-changing real estate and business marketplace demand a new breed of real estate leaders.
At ULI’s 2011 Fall Meeting in Los Angeles last month, the J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development—an opportunity for the Institute to recognize a distinguished professional whose work is transforming the built environment—was awarded to His Highness the Aga Khan for the breadth of his organization’s development and restoration efforts throughout the developing world.
Four developments selected as winners in the ULI Awards for Excellence: Asia Pacific competition show a commitment to high-quality civic spaces, engagement and integration with the natural environment, and strong public/private cooperation, setting creative examples for development in dense urban environments. Read how one of the winners reimagined a water reservoir decommissioned in 1899.
Speaking about the 2011 ULI Amanda Burden Urban Open Space Award winner, Mayor Francis Slay said, “Citygarden is the most significant development to take place in St. Louis since the competition of the Gateway Arch nearly 50 years ago.” Read how the 2.9-acre amenity—which is part municipal park, part sculpture garden—has had a positive effect on the surrounding real estate market and businesses.
Among the unconventional projects to win a 2011 ULI Award for Excellence is Burnside Rocket, an infill development in Portland, Oregon, that has a ground-floor pub, two levels of shared office space, a top-floor restaurant, and a rooftop garden. Read about the unconventional approach the developer, Kevin Cavenaugh, has taken toward sharing his projects and ideas with others.
“By integrating one of the oldest buildings in Milpitas within a new, high-density community, the city is able to grow while still maintaining the continuity and historic feel of its city center.” Read about the seniors’ housing project in California—honored in the 2009 ULI Awards for Excellence: The Americas competition—that inspired this description.
A stagnant economy and uncertain market conditions leave otherwise prime developable properties without interest from buyers or investors. And owners, unwilling to sell at depressed prices, are waiting until normal market conditions return. Read what a ULI Advisory Services panel told the city of Suffolk, Virginia, to do during the interim to prepare a prime waterfront site for the tide’s return.
Dynamic, large-scale projects that create new centers of activity can be catalysts of downtown revitalization. Sundance Square in Fort Worth, the Columbia Heights revitalization in D.C., and L.A. LIVE in downtown Los Angeles—the three 2010 ULI Awards for Excellence winners—are recent examples. Read how these projects created benefits that extend well beyond the neighborhoods where they stand.
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