Real estate investors recognize the need to incorporate physical climate risks—including wildfire, hurricanes, and excessive heat—into their business models as the prevalence and severity of extreme weather events increase. Climate-risk analytics tools have proliferated in recent years to help investors assess, price, and mitigate these physical climate risks. Investors have welcomed these tools but face challenges selecting the right provider—or providers—to meet their business needs.

It’s tough to view a strong economy as bad news. Yet a firmly positive economic projection in ULI’s Real Estate Economic Forecast does not bode well for commercial real estate participants who are hoping for relief in rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

These 10 hotels embody environmental sensitivity plus energy and water efficiency.

Spanning 80 acres (32.4 ha) and 1 million square feet (93,000 sq m) of industrial space, The Works is located off Chattahoochee Avenue, a once-quiet industrial corridor on the west side of Atlanta. This pocket of the city—now known as the Upper Westside with a new CID to prove it—has seen explosive growth since plans for The Works were announced in 2017.

Once overlooked as little more than open-air spaces for trailer parking, industrial outdoor storage (IOS) sites are emerging as a promising niche for their increasingly significant role in the e-commerce and logistics sectors and their potential to earn strong returns for investors.

Demand for industrial space has pushed vacancies to historically low levels. But the high tide may no longer be lifting all boats. A surge in new supply along with a growing appetite for more modern facilities is putting more pressure on the sector’s aging building stock. Legacy buildings are having a tougher time keeping up with the changing demands of today’s space users.

The historic Powell Avenue Steam Plant, located in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, represents an extraordinary opportunity to reimagine a piece of the city’s industrial heritage. Spanning a 3.09-acre (1.24 ha) site in the heart of Birmingham’s vibrant Parkside District, this historic property is poised to become a cornerstone of downtown’s continued revitalization.

Canada’s real estate market is in the midst of a pivotal shift as the Bank of Canada (BoC) rolls back what has been “higher for longer” interest rates. Yet despite welcome relief on financing costs, real estate leaders are still moving somewhat cautiously amid uncertainty and fluid market dynamics.

The Covid-19 pandemic led to a foundational shift in how and where people work. As the real estate industry has sought to better understand how the pandemic has affected cities as a whole, the concept of the “urban doom loop” has frequently been mentioned as one of the most negative effects of the global health crisis, particularly in the U.S.

Every commercial real estate cycle presents a unique opportunity to drive innovation and refine investment strategy. That’s among the takeaways from Urban Land’s interview with industry vet Jim Brooks, president of Los Angeles–based BH Properties. Brooks brings deep experience in navigating cycles and unlocking value, with a resume that includes The Koll Company, Morgan Stanley, Tishman Speyer, and Columbia’s real estate Master’s degree program.

Existing properties get makeovers to provide sustainable options for vulnerable populations

Los Angeles-based impact fund manager SDS Capital Group has launched a new capital platform—SDS Impact Debt (SDSID)—that aims to bring much needed, low-cost debt to the affordable housing market. It is an asset-backed model that offers below-market financing (both permanent and construction) for affordable housing projects—and is potentially scalable across the U.S.

As buildings become more efficient and run on “cleaner” energy sources, the industry’s attention will need to include embodied carbon—emissions associated with the manufacturing and transportation of building materials, as well as the construction, maintenance and disposal of buildings.

Speakers mixed good news and uncertainty at the “ULI New York: Real Estate Outlook 2025" event, held January 22, 2025, at the Stern School of Business at New York University in Manhattan by ULI New York in partnership with NYU Stern | Chen Institute.

In the heart of London’s Covent Garden neighborhood, a complex of five Victorian-era structures—previously housing a seed merchant company, a brass and iron foundry, and a Nonconformist chapel, among other uses—have been restored and adapted into a single, cohesive office building with ground-floor retail and dining space. The three-year restoration preserved the property’s industrial heritage and provides flexibility to meet the needs of today’s workforce.

ULI Asia Pacific report builds the business case.

Daryl Fairweather, chief economist for real estate brokerage Redfin, will be presenting at the upcoming 2024 ULI Housing Opportunity Conference in Austin. A classically trained economist with both a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Chicago, Fairweather previously worked at Amazon and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.

The ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing has announced two winners for the 2023 Jack Kemp Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing Award and four winners for the 2023 Terwilliger Center Award for Innovation in Attainable Housing.

The National Retail Federation’s Hot 25 Retailers ranks the nation’s fastest-growing retail companies. Rankings are determined by increases in domestic sales between 2022 and 2023; all retail companies with global sales in excess of $2 billion, and key format leaders were eligible. 

While retail leasing in the United States has been healthy according to JLL’s Q2 data, retailers have shown a preference for smaller formats while repurposing some parking for other uses.

ULI San Francisco recently hosted a panel revisiting the recommendations made by ULI Advisory Servies panelists to revive the downtown and highlighting the progress that has been made.