Monday marked the beginning of the 28-day-long celebration of Black History Month in the Americas. Established in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson as Negro History Week, the week of recognition was expanded and renamed Black History Month in the 1970s. Black History Month is officially celebrated during February in the United States and Canada and during October in Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In the spirit of this month, we would like to highlight what we are doing to continue to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in both ULI as an organization and for the broader real estate industry as a whole.

In October, the ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance announced an additional goal to reduce the operational carbon emissions of its members’ collective buildings to net zero by the year 2050. Eleven ULI Greenprint members have already publicly committed to this target on top of the 50 percent carbon reduction goal by 2030 that all ULI Greenprint members have already pledged.

U.S. real estate economists predict generally improved economic and property market news for the rest of 2020, as well as for the following two years, compared with their forecasts of six months ago, according to the fall 2020 ULI Real Estate Economic Forecast.

A ULI member from the San Francisco Bay area weighs the pros and cons of converting the HVAC system of a 1960s-era office building.

The ULI Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance has announced the addition of three new members to its executive board from industry-leading organizations such as JBG Smith, ZOM, HR&A.

Marnix Galle, executive chairman of Belgian developer Immobel, has been appointed ULI Europe Chairman, serving on a voluntary basis for a two-year term starting on July 1, 2020, and will join the ULI Global Board of Directors. He succeeds outgoing Europe Chairman Juergen Fenk, member of the executive board, SIGNA Holding GmbH.

The latest “Real Estate Economic Forecast,” produced by the ULI Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate, points to a U.S. economy that has likely already hit bottom, with growth resuming in the second half of the year that will soften some of the blow. Panelists on a ULI webinar said that this outlook comes with crossed fingers due to uncertainty related to the path of COVID-19 and the time it takes to develop an effective vaccine.

Renowned real estate entrepreneur Wolfgang Egger, who founded PATRIZIA AG over 35 years ago, has won the 2020 ULI European Leader Award. Rising star Hala El Akl, a director at PLP Architecture, was named the ULI European Talent Award winner in the ULI European Leadership Awards. The awards recognize industry leaders in Europe whose contributions to urban development and real estate, along with civic and social endeavors, exemplify the spirit and mission of ULI.

Interest rates have been on a roller-coaster ride over the last year, but cap rates are largely unchanged. The result of these moves is that cap rate spreads relative to the safe investments in the 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds have moved back to the levels seen in 2017. Given everything that has changed over the last year—as well as everything that has not—there may be room for cap rate spreads to move lower.

Outgoing ULI Global Chairman Thomas Toomey reflected on the Institute’s uniqueness as well as its future as an organization with a strong philanthropic culture during remarks made at the 2019 Spring Meeting’s closing session. “What makes [ULI] unique is that our work, performed by ULI members and real estate leaders, changes people’s lives by changing cities for the better. No other real estate institution comes close to doing so much for so many,” Toomey said.