Commercialized marijuana is big business and is expanding as a new asset class at an astronomical rate, according to a ULI Spring Meeting panel of industry investors, operators, and legal experts on the state of the cannabis business and real estate opportunities being created in the sector. Twenty-eight states have legalized the sale of medical marijuana, and eight states plus the District of Columbia allow recreational marijuana to some degree.

Breweries have an almost magical ability to revitalize neighborhoods and even entire towns, according to panelists speaking at ULI’s 2017 Carolinas Meeting.

Last month, Cushman & Wakefield reported that U.S. industrial markets absorbed 63.6 million square feet (5.9 million sq m) of space in the final quarter of 2016, which propelled net absorption for the year to a record-setting 282.9 million square feet (26.3 million sq m). According to the company, the U.S. industrial vacancy rate for all product types continued to decline in the fourth quarter, falling 30 basis points (bps) from the prior quarter and 100 bps from the prior year to 5.5 percent.

A ULI Advisory Services panel will visit the city of Georgetown and Georgetown County to advise representatives on how best to transform a 150-acre (61 ha) site into a catalyst for economic development.

FutureBuild 2016, hosted in January by ULI Los Angeles in partnership with VerdeXchange, offered a look at urban growth challenges in Los Angeles that are illustrative of issues faced by cities everywhere as they aspire to become more livable, prosperous, and sustainable.

Over the next decade, 20 markets worldwide—including south Florida; Santiago, Chile; El Bajío, Mexico; and Philadelphia—are set to emerge as global logistics hubs, according to a new report from CBRE Group Inc.

Advanced manufacturing, which uses high levels of technology in addition to innovative materials and processes, is replacing traditional production in many locations and creating new industrial centers in others. A panel at ULI’s Fall Meeting addressed the changes in manufacturing and how they will affect urban centers.

With e-commerce activity increasing, the real estate market is scrambling to keep up with a new type of building demand that combines distribution centers with fulfillment centers, said experts speaking at the ULI Spring Meeting.

Global e-commerce titans, such as Google and Amazon and China’s Alibaba, are transforming customer expectations on product selection, convenience, and shopping experiences, which may lead to less demand for traditional retail real estate, Jim Tompkins, CEO of Tompkins International, told attendees at ULI’s Midwinter Meeting in Paris last week.

Extracting oil and natural gas from shale is just one driver of the state’s latest glory days.