Project Profiles
Urban Land project profiles generally focus on a single commercial development, either as an award-winning example of best practices, or as an insider’s view of the development and the challenges that it faced.
Shenzhen’s Nantou Ancient City project represents a groundbreaking approach to revitalizing China’s historic urban villages in a way that preserves their cultural heritage and community fabric. After China’s government designated Shenzhen as a Special Economic Zone in 1980, the city’s more than 400 urban villages grew rapidly to provide informal housing for an influx of migrant workers. The result: high-density residential areas that maximized rental income but often compromised on fire safety and hygiene standards.
The hotel industry in the United States faces complex challenges in 2025, according to Jan Freitag, national director of hospitality analytics for the CoStar Group. During the “State of the U.S. Hotel Industry” presentation at the ULI 2025 Spring Meeting in Denver, Colorado, Freitag highlighted the challenges facing the hotel business amid macroeconomic uncertainty.
Currently, vacancy rates in the Washington, D.C. area are around 20 percent, in line with the national average. The nationwide housing shortage, meanwhile, has hit a record high of 4.7 million homes, despite a five-year uptrend in new construction. The deficit is particularly pronounced in highly desirable urban and inner-suburban locations such as Alexandria, Virginia.
It’s not as if the old two-story building at the corner of 12th and Remington Court, in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood, was ever particularly remarkable. Even in its original incarnation, it was a straightforward, utilitarian, mixed-use structure—competently built but not especially well-proportioned or ornately detailed.
In Midtown Atlanta, the Georgia Institute of Technology Foundation is turning the 100-year-old former Biltmore hotel into a mecca for incubating technology startup ventures.
Steps from the Place de l’Europe in Paris, the French real estate company Covivio has recast a historic telephone exchange as its headquarters. Dubbed “L’Atelier,” the complex showcases the firm’s expertise, values, and culture; houses 250 Paris employees; and supports the company’s three business lines: office, hotel, and residential.
In the Belgian municipality of Edegem, a 20-minute bike ride from Antwerp’s city center, a camera film roll packing plant has become Minerve, a biodiverse, sustainable mixed-use residential and commercial neighborhood.