Recent Articles

• Tech and Manufacturing Driving Growth in Southern U.S. Markets

  August 27, 2018

  While America’s South continues on a steady course with a growing population and an increasing number of jobs, officials are acting on some challenges, which include traffic, housing affordability, education needs, and the rising cost of construction.

• In Brief: Prime Office Rents Rise across Three Major Regions, CBRE Reports

  July 23, 2018

  Hong Kong Central remained the most expensive office market in the world, according to CBRE’s annual Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs report. Hong Kong Central’s overall prime occupancy costs of US$307 per square foot (US$3,305 per sq m) per year topped the “most expensive” list, followed by London’s West End, Beijing’s Finance Street, and Hong Kong’s Kowloon.

• Revitalizing a Historic Mill Town in North Carolina

  June 18, 2018

  At a ULI Triangle event in April, representatives of North Carolina’s Capitol Broadcasting Company shared the firm’s plans to redevelop a historic cotton mill, ultimately shifting the fortunes of the town of Rocky Mount.

• Building the Infrastructure to Keep Growing Life-Science Companies in New York City

  June 11, 2018

  Hundreds of millions of dollars are pouring into plans to help incubate and retain life-science startups in New York City, panelists said at a ULI New York event in May. Locating in Manhattan offers the benefit of a variety of possible partners, including universities, hospitals, and other technology firms, as well as the presence of investors and potential employees, they said.

• Office Landlords Increase Focus on Enhanced Workplace Experience to Retain Tenants

  May 21, 2018

  A sea change is taking place in the way companies use office space design, amenities, and location to attract the most talented employees to their firms. Speaking at a ULI Boston event in May, panelists said that while lease flexibility is key to attracting desirable tenants, so is the user experience of the building itself.

• Best Returns May Lie Out of the Spotlight for Hong Kong’s Value-Add Market

  While investment volumes in commercial real estate in Hong Kong were up strongly last year, flagship office buildings and prime development sites are beyond the reach of all but a handful of players. For most investors, more interesting opportunities lie in other, less-visible parts of the market. Rather than waiting for (and possibly missing) the next correction, investors who are willing to roll up their sleeves may find opportunities away from the spotlight.

• Workplaces May Not Shrink Further, but They May Gain Flexibility

  May 3, 2018

  Companies may be starting to see that squeezing more employees into less space is starting to be counterproductive, but panelists at ULI’s 2018 Spring Meeting agreed that expansive offices were largely a thing of the past, especially with wireless communications and cloud-based applications increasingly allowing employees to get much of their work done off site.

• In Brief: Investors See Upside in Coworking Spaces—Up to a Point

  March 19, 2018

  While commercial real estate investors generally take a positive view on coworking, maintaining a balance of traditional and coworking space in a building is critical when it comes to creating long-term capital value. According to a CBRE survey, investors say that a coworking occupancy of a third of the space or less, with a qualified operator, supports a healthy capital value.

• Encouraging Aspiring Developers to Think Both Big and Small

  March 12, 2018

  Speaking at a ULI Minnesota event, Kevin Cavenaugh, owner of Portland-based Guerrilla Development, said bigger is not necessarily better, and oftentimes it is worse, in terms of the complexity and risk.