Nicholas Brooke, an acclaimed authority on land administration and planning matters, and one of Hong Kong’s most widely recognized champions of innovation and technology, has received dual recognition from ULI in being selected as the new chairman of the Asia Pacific region and the first ULI Life Trustee from Asia Pacific.

Jürgen Fenk, member of the Group Executive Board of SIGNA Group, has been named the new chair of ULI Europe. Fenk, who succeeds Jon Zehner, global head of the client capital group for LaSalle Investment Management, will serve on a voluntary basis for a two-year term. A member of ULI for over a decade, Fenk has just completed a four-year term as chair of ULI Germany, ULI’s second largest national council in Europe. He is also currently a Global Governing Trustee, a member of ULI Europe’s Executive Committee, and serves on ULI’s Global Board of Directors.

With property in high demand in Berlin—it had the largest year-over-year real estate price increase of any city in the world last year—it makes more sense than ever to look up for new opportunities. A number of developers have found success (or are hoping for a top return) from add-on projects atop existing structures in Germany’s capital.

The Dodge Momentum Index eked out a small gain in May, moving 1.8 percent higher to 167.8 (2,000=100) from the revised April reading of 164.9. May’s gain was the result of a 4.7 percent increase by the commercial component of the Momentum Index, while the institutional component fell 2.4 percent.

If smart cities are to serve their populations, the human element must remain crucial for their designers and developers, attendees at the 2018 ULI Asia Pacific Summit were told. A panel of developers, designers, and planners mulled over the development of the smart city in Asia during the summit, held in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong’s land supply problem is not attributable to a lack of money, but rather is an issue of finding the physical space for development, as well as a matter of perception, said the chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR, speaking at a ULI event.

Restaurants and coffee-shop chains increased their lead as the most active retail category for international expansion, capitalizing on a global effort by landlords to make their shopping centers more inviting by adding more experiential, internet-proof uses, according to a new report from CBRE.

ProMedica Plaza and Promenade Park opened in August 2017, occupying 11 acres (4.5 ha) along the Maumee River in Toledo, Ohio. To create a more efficient workplace and demonstrate a commitment to Toledo’s core, Randy Oostra, ProMedica’s chief executive officer, chose to relocate administrative staff from 20 locations to a new, unified headquarters in the city.

Jill Ferrari, a partner at Shelborne Development and vice chair of ULI Michigan, and Eric Larson, chief executive officer of both the Larson Realty Group and the Downtown Detroit Partnership, who is also serving as a co-chair of the ULI Spring Meeting Host Committee, were recently interviewed on a podcast produced by Crain’s Detroit Business.

In January 2014, Comcast Corporation announced that it would build a second skyscraper at 1800 Arch Street in Philadelphia’s Center City, near the Comcast Center headquarters that it had moved into just six years before. The tallest building in Philadelphia is set to open its doors in 2018.