Market Trends

Encouraging Retail and Multifamily in Downtown Erie, Pennsylvania

In early August, a ULI Advisory Services Panel spent a week touring the neighborhoods and development projects of Erie, Pennslyvania, a city which has lost 30 percent of its population since 1960. The 11-person panel—chaired by ULI Trustee Richard Reynolds, president of a real estate consulting firm in Boston—focused on Erie’s downtown revitalization and working within the city’s current economic and cultural environment.

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Using Tactical Preservation to Revive Neighborhoods outside Downtown Detroit

Can vacant theaters, banks, schools, libraries, churches, apartment buildings, and storefronts that once were mainstays of Detroit neighborhoods be preserved while also providing an economic boost? That was the issue facing a ULI Advisory Services panel that gathered in the Motor City in late July.

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In Brief: Dodge Momentum Index Increases in July

The Dodge Momentum Index, a leading indicator for construction spending for nonresidential buildings, moved 1.4 percent higher in July to 169.8 from the revised June reading of 167.3. The commercial component of the Momentum Index grew by 3.3 percent, while the institutional component fell 1.5 percent.

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Online vs. In-store: Designing for the Next Generation of Shoppers

With the convenience and increasingly experiential process of shopping online, how can retail stores and malls compete? Thriving brands are combining their online and brick-and-mortar experiences to keep foot traffic high and regenerating communities.

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Recent Articles

  • Imagining New Governance Models for Cities of the Future

    August 2, 2018

    What could the future of cities look like? In the future, cities will have more in common, and will have more interaction with each other than with regional governments, said speakers at ULI Germany’s Urban Leader Summit in May. This “parasovereignty” can already be seen in places such as Dubai, where some cities use different systems of law to attract investment.

  • Attracting Tourists to Japan Through a More Varied Nightlife

    August 1, 2018

    Japan is in the midst of a huge attempt to boost tourism, but there are fears that it does not offer enough nighttime fun for foreign visitors who seek out theater and other activities that often occur after sunset. A panel at the Urban Land Institute’s Japan Spring Conference, held in May at the Tokyo International Forum, discussed ways to build an “attractive night-time economy.”

  • Product Council Outlook for Hotel Design

    July 30, 2018

    Experts in hotel development discuss the rising popularity of social spaces in hotels, the role of technology in the hotel experience, the ways guests are shaping in-room furniture design, the competition from Airbnb, the need for “Instagrammable” spaces in hotels, and changing approaches to hotel restaurants.

  • As Boise Booms, Former HUD Secretary Sees a Chance for Greater Equity

    Behind the new home construction, park improvements, and a rising downtown skyline that are attracting out-of-state migration, some longtime families in Boise, Idaho, are struggling to afford housing in a market that has seen rents more than double in the past decade.

  • Seeing Pros and Cons in “Digitization” of Real Estate

    July 16, 2018

    A future-focused Urban Leader Summit discussion in Frankfurt in May on embracing new technology raised just as many questions as it answered. Panelists said the waves of change triggered by this digital shift are going to be felt for generations to come, as more and more jobs are capable of being done by machines.

  • Office and Residential Development Driving Revival of Midwest Downtowns

    July 13, 2018

    Foxconn Technology Group is investing $10 billion to build some 22 million square feet (2 million sq m) of manufacturing space near Milwaukee, but other cities are also reaping the rewards of the Midwest’s growing tech sector.

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