At the 2021 ULI Carolinas meeting, held as a virtual/in-person hybrid event in March, the annual Crane Watch session showcased projects under construction in North and South Carolina that use innovative planning and design in their placemaking efforts, creating iconic projects that help shape the neighborhoods that surround them. The projects this year included a historic storefront restoration, a shipping container–based food yard, and a massive nine-block development.

Through the new Yield Chicago program, seasoned and emerging development professionals are joining to share industry knowledge, networks, and best practices.

In a discussion of the ongoing transformation of U.S. retail, panelists participating in the 2020 ULI Spring Meeting Webinar Series agreed that the authenticity, differentiation, and transparency creating a sense of place in mixed-use retail spaces are likely to be what consumers seek in the future. Single-use spaces are about convenience, but that is only half of what consumers say they are looking for.

As in many growing U.S. cities, much of the new housing in New Orleans is on the high end.

Seeking innovative ways to accommodate Toronto’s growing population, developers across the city are launching “mega-mixed-use” projects that are redefining urban living for generations to come.

A Seattle developer pioneers a flexible process to bring live/work/make/eat/shop uses to a superblock site on Portland’s inner urban fringe.

In 2017, the New York–based Northwood Investors spent $1.2 billion to purchase Ballantyne Corporate Park, a highly successful office property in Charlotte—the single-largest real estate transaction in North Carolina’s history at the time.

In 2018, downtown Fort Lauderdale added just over 1,000 residential units. An additional 3,000 units have already come to market so far in 2019, with more underway. While speakers at ULI Southeast Florida’s “Fort Lauderdale Emerges” event acknowledged the risk of overbuilding, they were also confident that a blockbuster mixed-use project will attract interest for decades to come.

Ten projects create synergy among different uses.

A panel discussion at the recent ULI Europe Real Estate Forum in Dublin examined how investors are driving demand for and managing mixed-use districts and buildings. Speakers said that rather than many small and varied projects, they have concentrated on fewer and larger high-return projects.