Each year, the ULI Young Leaders Exchange (YLX) selects a dynamic city as the backdrop for an immersive exploration of urban development. It brings together the most promising minds in real estate, planning, and design across the Americas—not simply to observe but also to engage, collaborate, and shape the industry’s future. To that end, in April, “YLX 2025 Orlando Unbound—The Space Between” welcomed 51 registered attendees representing 22 District Councils, including three returning participants from past exchanges.

An estimated 29 million people struggle to afford quality health care in the United States, with 11 percent of adults considered “cost desperate” and underserved in supply-constrained environments. To expand access and expedite health care to these communities, providers are converting vacant properties into much-needed outpatient facilities, tracking toward an estimated 10.6 percent growth rate over the next five years. Innovative design and construction ingenuity bring these projects to life by delivering increased solutions that address the unique needs of each community. Such is the case with SAC Health Brier Campus, a former banking call center that was recently transformed into a “healing oasis” in San Bernardino, California.

A waterfront site across McCovey Cove from San Francisco’s Oracle Park had long served as a parking lot for Giants baseball fans—but little more. Today, the property is home to Mission Rock, an ambitious mixed-use development undertaken in a public-private partnership between the Giants, the Port of San Francisco, and global real estate development company Tishman Speyer. Attendees of the 2025 ULI Fall Meeting will have the opportunity to tour Mission Rock and learn how an unusually collaborative approach to development has created a neighborhood that goes beyond serving sports fans.

The OAK project began in 2009, when a development firm set their sights on the corner of Northwest Expressway and North Pennsylvania Avenue, the state’s most important and busiest retail intersection. As the region’s only parcel capable of supporting a vertically integrated project of this scale and density, that land represented an opportunity to create something truly special.

Following a masterplan adopted by British Land, the AustralianSuper pension fund, and the Southwark Council, developers are now seven years into a 15-year project to transform a 53-acre (21.44 hectares) parcel of industrial land and a former quay into a community that will include as many as 3,000 new homes, office, retail, leisure, and entertainment space.

The mission of the ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing has been to ensure that everyone has a home that meets their needs at a price they can afford. Established in 2007 with a gift from longtime member and former ULI chairman J. Ronald Terwilliger, the Center’s activities include technical assistance engagements, forums and convenings, research and publications, and an awards program. The goal is to catalyze the production and preservation of a full spectrum of housing options.

The mechanics of planning and building a major development may be familiar to real estate professionals, but the entire process can be opaque and intimidating to laypersons in the communities most directly affected. ULI’s new report, Development for Nondevelopers, aims to bridge that knowledge gap. It offers a clear, practical guide to how development projects come together—and how communities can assure the project ultimately meets local needs.

Many mixed-use projects get the hardware right. They feature a thoughtful mix of uses, beautiful buildings, and name-brand tenants. Far fewer get the “software” right—the pedestrian flow, the plaza experience, the hospitality-level service, and all the subtle details that turn a mixed-use project into something more. These elements transform a development into a vibrant, urbanesque destination—one that delivers on the promise of being a true community gathering place.

In April, the Urban Land Institute welcomed Vincent Ilustre as the new president of the ULI Foundation, appointing him to lead philanthropic initiatives and strengthen donor engagement. Ilustre was drawn to the role by the strong connection members have with ULI. “There’s a genuine passion for this organization,” he said. “Members don’t just join ULI—they invest in it because it’s helped shape their professional journeys.”

In a landmark moment for California housing policy, Governor Gavin Newsom signed two transformative bills into law in June 2025—AB 130 and SB 131. They fundamentally reshape how the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) applies to infill housing. Enacted as part of the state’s broader budget package, these reforms remove major procedural barriers for urban multifamily projects and signal a new direction in the state’s effort to address housing affordability through increased supply.