New York City
Bridge the gap between vision and action with key insights on funding and policy for resilient stormwater infrastructure.
In late 2025, the ULI Randall Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate convened a series of roundtables with sustainability leaders to explore the industry’s perspective on top global priorities in 2026. Roundtables consisted of members of the ULI Americas Sustainable Development Council, the ULI Asia Pacific Net Zero Council, the ULI Europe Sustainability Council, and sustainability-oriented committees of District Councils from ULI San Francisco, ULI New York, ULI Los Angeles, ULI Singapore, and ULI Philadelphia.
Several architecture and infrastructure projects add up to a new public realm exalting the pedestrian experience
From Dead Mall to Living District: Replacing the “Great Wall of Galleria” with a Connected Urban Core
The ongoing challenges in decarbonizing skyscrapers, warehouses, apartments, and myriad other types of buildings were a key topic during ULI’s 3rd Real Estate Developer & Utility Convening on September 22—part of Climate Week NYC, the largest climate conference outside of the United Nations’ COP.
Drawing on insights from more than 1,700 leading real estate investors, developers, lenders and advisors across the U.S. and Canada, the report identifies key opportunities, risks and market shifts that will shape the industry in the coming year.
Climate Week NYC, run by the nonprofit Climate Group and held in parallel with the United Nations General Assembly, makes its annual return this September 21–28 with hundreds of in-person, hybrid, and virtual events. This jam-packed week brings together a powerful cross-section of climate leaders, including inspiring activists; visionary artists; and industry leaders in real estate, business, finance, and government.
From resilient parks to bold adaptive reuse, this year’s winners redefine urban innovation and community impact across the Americas
Phase 2 of the Willets Point redevelopment project is transforming an industrial part of Queens that once-inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “valley of ashes” in The Great Gatsby in 1925. A century later, Queens Development Group—a joint venture between Related Companies, Sterling Equities, and New York City Football Club—is converting 23 acres (9.3 ha) of underutilized land into a $3 billion mixed-use community.
Despite improving return-to-office numbers, the office sector still battles numerous challenges that are resulting in higher loan defaults. According to MSCI Real Assets, office leads the charge on rising distress levels, which have not been seen in more than a decade. Office accounts for nearly half of outstanding distress: $51.6 billion in outstanding distress at the end of fourth quarter 2024, and another $74.7 billion in office properties identified as at risk for “potential” distress.
Speakers mixed good news and uncertainty at the “ULI New York: Real Estate Outlook 2025" event, held January 22, 2025, at the Stern School of Business at New York University in Manhattan by ULI New York in partnership with NYU Stern | Chen Institute.
Real estate dealmakers look forward to a much busier 2025. High interest rates and uncertainty have choked markets for commercial real estate since rates began their relentless rise two years ago. In 2024, banks and other lenders struggled to underwrite new loans and refinance expiring ones. Potential buyers and sellers argued about the value of assets.
Four experts discuss how to rebuild urban cores by bringing the public and private sectors together to create thriving downtowns that entice remote workers to return to the office and broaden the mix of uses.
Consumers have kept a steady foot on the gas this year. A record-high 197 million consumers shopped in stores or online over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). The NRF forecasts that holiday sales will grow between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent, with total retail spending in the United States falling between $979.5 billion and $989 billion during November and December. That forecast also is consistent with NRF’s annual U.S. sales growth—between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent—for 2024.
The U.S. economy did very well in 2024, said Barbara Denham, lead economist for Oxford Economics, and the forecast for the coming year is more of the same—both in New York City and across North America. However, in presenting Oxford’s favorable economic forecast for 2025 at a ULI New York event last month, Denham also noted many caveats ahead of the incoming U.S. administration.
The ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing has announced two winners for this year’s Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award, as well as two winners for the Terwilliger Center Award for Innovation in Attainable Housing.
Obsolete buildings will constitute up to 50 percent of all new housing in cities
The term “Environmental, Social, and Governance,” or ESG, has been around for two decades, first being coined by the United Nations Global Compact in 2004. However, the rise of the framework has led to increasing political backlash, with some states outright banning ESG in investment decisions.
How seven U.S. cities are tackling the future of downtowns
This year’s Net Zero Buildings Week is Sept. 16-20. The virtual event series supports partnerships and collaboration across the built environment industry to collectively advance net zero buildings.
Hundreds of events are scheduled September 22-27 for Climate Week NYC 2024, an annual event that drives climate action by those at the very top of business and politics, but also by communities, artists, and activists. This year’s theme: It’s Time. The built environment is a part of the dialogue, as are cross-sector issues like circular economy, water, finance, biodiversity, adaptation, health, environmental justice, policy, and more. With more than 600 events to choose from, it’s easy to assemble a perfect, customized itinerary for the week.
On August 14, ULI New York and the Holcim Foundation hosted a sold-out event on “Decarbonization at Scale,” a topic that has never been more critical for the future of the built environment in North America.
The winners of the ULI Americas Awards for Excellence become finalists for the 2024 ULI Global Awards for Excellence, competing against projects from the Europe and Asia Pacific regions. The awards are open to projects and programs in the ULI Americas region that are substantially complete, financially viable, and in stable operation. The program evaluates submissions on overall excellence, including achievements in marketplace acceptance, design, planning, technology, amenities, economic impact, management, community engagement, innovation, and sustainability, among others.
How urban planners are turning public places into vibrant centers for living, working, learning, and socializing.
According to the World Green Building Council, buildings currently account for a staggering 39 percent of global emissions, while trillions of dollars’ worth of real estate assets are at risk due to climate-related disasters. At the same time, utility providers are struggling to scale infrastructure to meet growing energy demands spurred by economic growth and development and unprecedented temperature extremes resulting in higher than usual utility charges and devastating outages. Now more than ever, the industry’s progress toward net zero emissions and resilience is critical.
RXR CEO and Chairman Scott Rechler, in a recent ULI members-only webinar with ULI Foundation Chair Faron A. Hill, described the challenges and opportunities ahead as an epic, unavoidable storm. “That hurricane … eventually, it’s going to hit land,” Rechler warned. “The question is when it hits, how hard it hits, and where it hits the hardest.”
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Supertall creates a “palpable energy” that speaks to New York’s resilience and the future of cities
Industry pressures abound to decarbonize existing buildings, and some geographies and asset classes make it more challenging than others. This is particularly the case for tall buildings in cold climates keen on decarbonizing their heating system as part of a larger retrofit plan. What technologies are best for the retrofit? How do owners make the projects pencil out financially? Has anyone done these projects before, or do owners face first-mover risks?
A close look at trends shaping today’s best economic and talent hubs that offers valuable clues into how to create equitable, sustainable innovation districts that prosper.
Ten projects deliver compact residential spaces that offer more affordable city living options, foster community, and minimize environmental impacts.
