Nashville Yards, a project that is intended to weave together all the strands of the city’s development boom, will include a new concert venue, a much needed luxury hotel, and a bold new public green space.

As cities across the U.S. Southeast are attracting investment, the resulting growth can bring with it a downside, with only a limited number of perspectives being heard and represented in the planning. Panelists speaking at ULI’s 2019 Carolinas Meeting in February discussed how to solicit genuine participation from the full range of groups affected by development.

In February, a ULI Advisory Services panel visited Indianapolis to recommend redevelopment possibilities for sites near a planned bus rapid transit station in the Irvington neighborhood. Located approximately five miles (8 km) east of downtown Indianapolis, panelists referred to Irvington as “surban,” a cross between suburban and urban, saying that the area could add needed density with up to 440 apartments and townhomes in the area.

The ULI Asia Pacific Leadership Convivium, held in Shenzhen in March, heard from a panel of real estate professionals in their 20s and 30s, explaining how the demands of the next generation of consumers and owners are changing real estate.

In 2018, downtown Fort Lauderdale added just over 1,000 residential units. An additional 3,000 units have already come to market so far in 2019, with more underway. While speakers at ULI Southeast Florida’s “Fort Lauderdale Emerges” event acknowledged the risk of overbuilding, they were also confident that a blockbuster mixed-use project will attract interest for decades to come.

Lizanne Galbreath, who serves as managing director of Galbreath & Company, spoke recently at a ULI leadership event in Columbus. Her grandfather, John W. Galbreath, founded the John W. Galbreath Company in 1921, which eventually became one of the largest development companies in the United States, and was also a founding member of ULI.

A massive infrastructure program is interconnecting the cities of China’s Greater Bay Area and opening up a wealth of real estate opportunities. Attendees of the ULI Asia Pacific Leadership Convivium, held in Shenzhen in March, heard two presentations on the region, which includes the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, and Zhaoqing as well as the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.

More than 3,000 ULI full members are expected in Nashville, April 16–18, to attend the 2019 ULI Spring Meeting. Music City was ranked fifth among markets to watch in Emerging Trends in Real Estate ^© 2018. Don’t miss these five tours of both the past and the future of Nashville.

The booming economy in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area, fueled by corporate relocations, business expansions, and in-migration, can mask some of the region’s heady challenges: rising home prices, a high poverty rate, and long-term racial and economic segregation. A new study of three U.S. cities, which was released at an event cosponsored by ULI North Texas, looks at mitigating inequality without stalling development.

Attendees at the ULI Carolinas Meeting heard about six projects that highlight the patience, hard work, and serendipity needed for a complex project to come to fruition.