The Waterfront Alliance, an organization encompassing hundreds of groups that have as their goal improving over 700 miles of shoreline in the New York/New Jersey area, has developed the Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines (WEDG) for real estate projects and sites. WEDG launched the nationally applicable version of the rating system in March after initially piloting a New York–specific set of guidelines. A small number of real estate projects and parks in New York City have been certified under the guidelines, including the Domino Sugar factory site in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which is being redeveloped by Two Trees, and both Brooklyn Bridge Park and Greenpoint Landing.

Rising above Tulane Avenue on the edge of downtown New Orleans, the historic Charity Hospital building has stood dormant for a dozen years since it was flooded.

Wall Street Journalcolumnist Peggy Noonan shared her take on Trump’s first year in office during a speech to the ULI global governing trustees, who were in Washington, D.C., for the Midwinter Trustees Meeting at the Institute’s global headquarters. As Noonan put it on the same day Congress voted to end a three-day government shutdown, triggered by an impasse over the federal budget: “However you feel about him, you have to say, ‘Whoa, this has been an interesting year.’”

A ULI panel of real estate and land use professionals convened in Boston last fall has identified key priorities to guide future real estate development that could be catalyzed by a proposed underground rail line linking two major transit hubs—North Station and South Station—and unifying two currently separate commuter rail systems.

Lisette van Doorn, Chief Executive Officer of ULI Europe, shares some of the ongoing effort to enhance the benefits for our members and make ULI more relevant on a local level across Europe.

The Affordable Housing Game—a new initiative from ULI Europe and the city gaming company Play the City—brings ULI members and partners together to develop innovative and collaborative approaches to increase a city’s supply of affordable housing.

An area along the eastern side of the Don River in Toronto has been selected as the study site for the 16th annual ULI Hines Student Competition.

ULI’s Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI) has received a $90,000 gift from Hines, the global real estate organization, to support the creation of the WLI Hines Innovation Grants, with the goal of helping raise the visibility and number of women in leadership roles in the real estate industry and within ULI’s membership.

Dublin and other cities in Ireland should embrace density to help combat the country’s housing challenges, according to a panel at the ULI Ireland Conference, held in Dublin. Marian Finnegan, chief economist at Cushman and Wakefield, said the country’s growing workforce is driving a huge need for accommodation that is not being met. Ireland should be building 38,000 housing units every year to keep up with demand, Finnegan said, but fewer than 15,000 units were built in 2016.

After more than 20 years in Paris, the ULI Europe Conference will rotate among other leading European cities. The first stop on this new journey will be Berlin, where top players in European real estate and beyond will gather for the conference on January 30 and 31. “Berlin is a leading example of urban and economic development, making it a perfect choice for our first conference outside of Paris,” says Lisette van Doorn, chief executive of ULI Europe.