The emergence of female industry leaders taking on greater responsibility across Michigan is inspiring more young women to consider careers in commercial real estate.

A new report from the Urban Land Institute’s Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance outlines ten fundamental principles for building resilient cities and regions that successfully anticipate, respond to, and recover from both immediate shocks such as hurricanes and other extreme weather events and long-term stresses such as sea-level rise, poverty, and declining population.

ULI Life Trustee Frederick Kober, chairman of the board of the Christopher Companies, passed away on March 17, 2018, in Los Gatos, California, following a lengthy illness. He was 80. Kober, who joined ULI in 1970, was named a life trustee in 2005, a recognition reserved for the Institute’s most dedicated and respected members, and bestowed to only 15 members in ULI’s 82-year history.

Thoughtful placemaking is fundamental to the success of any economically and socially viable city. Detroit’s downtown parks are both public assets and important attractions throughout each of Michigan’s four seasons.

Just released: Read stories, hear from leaders, and see the progress ULI members made in the Americas and beyond in our 2017 Annual Report.

Internationally acclaimed architecture professor and architectural historian Vincent Scully, 2003 recipient of the ULI J.C. Nichols Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development, died November 30 at his home in Lynchburg, Virginia. He was 97.

Longtime ULI leader Nina J. Gruen, who pioneered the use of behavioral research to predict market demand for commercial and residential real estate, passed away on September 15, 2017. She was 83. Gruen and her husband, Claude Gruen, joined ULI in 1971, not long after founding Gruen Gruen + Associates, a renowned San Francisco–based firm that continues to provide research-based consulting and implementation services to the real estate industry and public land use and planning policy makers. Gruen, who remained active in ULI throughout her career, was elected as the Institute’s first female trustee in 1982, and was named an honorary member in 1996.

Cities and towns around the world are committing to increased use of solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, and hydro energy, and many have achieved some level of success. But so far only a handful can claim they are 100 percent powered by renewable energy.

Billy Grayson, an expert in sustainability program development for companies and organizations, has been selected to serve as the executive director of the ULI Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance.

We are delighted to announce that Ralph Boyd, an outstanding individual who is currently the chief executive officer (CEO) of the American Red Cross’s Massachusetts region, has accepted our offer to serve as ULI’s CEO for the Americas. He brings to ULI nonprofit CEO experience and membership-based organizational experience, familiarity with a decentralized organizational structure, financial leadership, gravitas, and the ability to act both strategically and tactically.