Despite volatility and uncertainty, real estate investors are finding ways to make deals. A new consensus is forming around a “reset” in the economy and commercial real estate, according to the 2024 Emerging Trends in Real Estate forecast produced by PwC and ULI. “There’s this sentiment of guarded optimism,” says Bill Staffieri, partner with PwC. He presented the forecast to hundreds of real estate experts at the Real Estate Outlook 2024, hosted in late January in New York City by ULI New York.

As creative placemaking has proliferated in the real estate industry, questions regarding its costs and benefits have often surfaced: What is the cost and what is the business case? Does it enhance the value of real estate? And what value is delivered?

Providing end-users with a choice that originates from a binary view—either indoor or outdoor—is no longer enough.

At the Europe ULI Hines Student Competition final, the team from the University of Manchester in England sized up their fellow competitors. They were impressed by the other presentations, but they felt confident that their own had a slight edge because of its core strength: its diversity.

Strict one-use-per-parcel zoning rules have long limited the growth of mixed-use projects in Spain, but the builders of a new office, residential, and commercial project in Madrid hope their example will pave the way for other integrated projects.

Innovative technology platforms already are helping many owners operate apartment buildings more efficiently and improve services for tenants. But experts say that is just the start of a revolution that could transform the multifamily segment.

In an era when the costs for infrastructure are skyrocketing, the need for innovative financing structures is more critical than ever. The panel discussion “Accelerating Development with Early-Stage Financing” at the 2023 ULI Spring Meeting provided a fresh perspective on how early-stage capital can expedite development timelines and transform the industry.

The Real Estate Economic Forecast, produced by the ULI Center for Real Estate Economics and Capital Markets, is based on a survey conducted in April 2023 of 41 economists and analysts at 37 leading real estate organizations. According to the survey, the U.S. economy will slow in 2023 and 2024, with recovery expected to begin in 2025. The real estate market will follow suit, with flat to negative results over the next two years, followed by mostly positive news in 2025.

Avison Young CEO Mark Rose shares how changes in work patterns, the rise of hybrid and remote working, new space usage trends, and the ever-increasing effects of e-commerce on physical brick-and-mortar retail are driving the need for adaptation and creative utilization.

Developers and buyers create new models for housing that hold the promise of a more environmentally friendly, connected, and multigenerational way of living.