Six members of ULI’s three Small-Scale Development Councils speak about the advantages such developers have and the challenges they face in the current economy. Learn which retail tenant is the hardest to get approved, and why municipalities are taking a more favorable approach toward it.

It is unlikely that the boomers will be looking for traditional retirement housing for at least ten to 15 years. When they do, expect them to want a very different style and organization of seniors’ housing. Read more about what the new seniors will want in housing and how they will live differently that seniors of the past.

The year 2011 marks 75 years of leadership in land use. But, while this is a milestone anniversary, it is a time to look forward to the next 75 years. Our decisions on what and where to develop will be guided not by a plentiful supply of land throughout urban regions, but by how best to use the land that is left. Dramatic changes are necessitating a major overhaul in what and where we build. Read about the forces of change that Patrick Phillips, CEO of ULI, sees now in place.

Austin is one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation, and has relatively low unemployment and a housing market that was spared the recession’s worst impacts. The city’s economy is doing fairly well in spite of the downturn, says Todd C. LaRue, principal in the Austin office of RCLCO Real Estate Advisors and member of the executive advisory board for ULI Austin. Read what else he and other ULI members have to say about the Austin market.

Developing modern buildings adjacent to historic icons can present unique challenges—especially in an area of downtown San Francisco with an active historic preservation community. Learn how a developer solved the puzzle of a San Francisco site by integrating a historic building with its modern neighbors to create a single structure with three parts.

Most cities and jurisdictions are not sustained by large catalytic redevelopments. On the contrary, they are typically built “block by block, or even lock by lock,” by small to medium-sized development businesses accomplishing significant infill developments that contribute to the urban environment. Read about the examples of successful infill projects presented by the panelists at the ULI 2010 Fall Meeting session entitled, “Entrepreneurial Development Strategies for Targeted Infill.”

Leaders who worked on three transformative urban projects showed why the projects had distinguished themselves as ULI award winners at the “Game Changers” session at ULI’s 2010 Fall Meeting. Urban Redevelopment Authority of Singapore introduced The Southern Ridges; Downtown Fort Worth, Texas and its Sundance Square; and, Columbia Heights, a historic neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C., and its commercial center are three case studies that offer what the public sector can do, even in the current economic climate.

What are smaller scale developers currently doing to survive? Four of them shared stories of what they were doing in 2007 (3 in the metropolitan Washington, D.C., region), and how they’re coping now to position their firms for future opportunities, at ULI’s 2010 Fall Meeting session, “The Current Environment for Smaller Developers.”

It took a Canadian bank without exposure to the U.S. subprime mortgage market to save the biggest real estate deal in Washington, D.C., during the darkest days of the credit crisis. It was Walton Street’s relationship with the Canadian TD Bank that enabled it to get the financing it needed. Read about how it was accomplished and how it has performed.

More and more players in commercial real estate are using social media to connect with their customers, said panelists at “Social Media and Engagement,” a session at ULI’s 2010 Fall Meeting. The tools are being used not only by the consumer-facing segments, such as retailers and real estate agents, but also business-to-business segments. People prefer doing business with those they know, and today people get to know you through social media.