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.

As a result of current market conditions, commercial landlords are facing fierce competition. One way to distinguish your property from that of the competition is to invest time and energy – not necessarily dollars – in a tenant relations program that is focused on addressing tenant needs and delivering meaningful and high-quality services. Learn how to design and execute a successful tenant relations and retention plan.

The JBG companies got their start in 1960 by law partners who realized they were doing more real estate work than law. For five decades the firm has been willing to challenge the status quo, as when they resisted the 1990’s trend toward becoming a real estate investment trust (REIT). Today it is almost impossible to walk around urban Washington, D.C.— particularly the areas surrounding Metrorail stations—without seeing the firm’s familiar lion’s-head logo.

Nashville-based developer David McGowan knew a change of course was necessary to ensure continued success at Lenox Village, a mixed-use, new urbanist development in southeast Nashville. It was 2007 and the market for for-sale housing was slowing down while rental housing was still strong. Read how McGowan shifted the project in the face of the oncoming slowdown in the economy.

Because bus rapid transit (BRT) seems to play out differently in every community, different types of bus infrastructure and service may all be called BRT. Both the public and private sectors need to share the specifics of what is being planned and developed. Only then will it be clear whether there are opportunities to turn your community’s BRT into bus rapid transit-oriented development (BRTOD).

From open spaces in Singapore and a remote part of China, to revamped malls in the Philippines and Australia, to a greenbelt that gives vertical lift to apartment living, the five winners of the 2010 ULI Awards for Excellence: Asia Pacific all feature the latest technology, sustainable design, and artistic innovation. They not only enhance their own value, but also engage visitors and improve the quality of life for the millions who experience these projects.

In 2009, the median price of an existing single-family home in the United States declined by 12.5 percent, the largest single-year drop since the National Association of Realtors began tracking the number in the late 1960s. But there were pockets of stable values and even rising home prices in every major metropolitan area across the country. The location of these stronger neighborhoods tended to depend on the traditional strengths of the metropolitan area as a whole.

As the economy finally—perhaps—emerges from the prolonged recession, it is difficult to imagine a future in which the United States continues to lead the world— technologically, innovatively, and economically. This becomes particularly more difficult in the face of the barrage of reports about China and India materializing as the next world powers.

The National Bus Rapid Transit Institute identified seven elements as those undergoing innovation in bus rapid transit.