Property Types

The hotel sector is coming back slowly in the United States, led by business travelers, but the majority of the growth in the full-service hotel market is overseas, said Bill Marriott, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Marriott International at ULI’s Fall Meeting. Marriott described how his firm is adapting to changing market conditions and shared his views on U.S. policies affecting the business community. Read a summary of the key topics he touched on.

The Commercial Mortgage Alert Trepp weekly survey of 15 active portfolio lenders widened between October 1st and October 8th. During the period, 10-year Treasury bond yields widened by 17 basis points, with average all-in cost equal to equal to 4.80 percent.

As the hospitality industry starts to recover from the low point it reached over the past couple of years, some trends have emerged that show changes in consumer preferences -- particularly at the ultra-luxury level -- that will likely dominate the industry for years to come. Read about the trends in hospitality planning and design as laid out by experts from Solage Hotels & Resorts; The West Paces Hotel Group; and, Marriott International, Inc.

The Commercial Mortgage Alert Trepp weekly survey of 15 active portfolio lenders continued to trend lower with average spreads down 5 basis points. During the period, 10-year Treasury bond yields increased 9 basis points. Spreads in the August 31 Cushman & Wakefield Sonnenblick-Goldman fixed and floating mortgage rate survey came in slightly.

It seems that everyone in the commercial real estate (CRE) industry is attempting to retool their operations to launch a fund in anticipation of the much-anticipated CRE bust and resulting flood of distressed supply supposedly just over the horizon. But it often is those individuals pitching their new fund—created to capitalize on distressed deals—who in the next sentence say “there are just no deals out there.” Should this raise a red flag?

Though London’s economy has been hit hard by the global recession, the city stands firm alongside New York City and Tokyo as one of three global financial centers and remains unrivaled as the business capital of Europe.

As the only major U.S. city without formal zoning, Houston has a reputation as a freewheeling place where anything goes. But in truth, a complex patchwork of public and private regulation has evolved to impose order.

Better described now as a mixed-use building than a garage, 1111 Lincoln Road provides a gateway to the Lincoln Road pedestrian mall conceived by Morris Lapidus, the influential 1950s Miami Beach architect.

Neighborhoods with small-scale historic buildings can be economic and cultural powerhouses when given a chance to survive and evolve.

Ten multifamily residential developments capitalize on waterfront locations.

Multifamily housing experts have seen financial and energy savings, plus improved resident retention, from their efforts in sustainability, health, and reduced energy use.

Eight years after a ULI Advisory Services panel gathered in the shadow of Pikes Peak to brainstorm about revitalizing Colorado Springs, the recent opening of the $91 million U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in the southwest corner of downtown represents an important cornerstone of the city’s urban renewal effort while bolstering its identity as “Olympic City, USA.”

The workplace of the future needs to provide flexibility and wellness in order to drive innovation, said a design expert giving a keynote at the 2018 ULI Japan Fall Conference in Tokyo.

The overall availability rate for U.S. office space was unchanged as of the end of the third quarter of 2018, remaining at 18.1 percent, according to the latest Savills Studley Report: National Office Sector from commercial services firm Savills Studley. San Francisco remains the tightest market in the country, with an availability rate of 9 percent, followed by Boston/Suffolk County, 9.7 percent; New York City, 11.6 percent; and Austin, 12.8 percent.

While America’s South continues on a steady course with a growing population and an increasing number of jobs, officials are acting on some challenges, which include traffic, housing affordability, education needs, and the rising cost of construction.

For those who invest in real estate in the Golden State, it makes sense to ask where the greatest need for investment lies. The most pressing need is arguably for additional housing close to jobs, which therefore represents the most interesting opportunity for investors.

The Minneapolis/Saint Paul metropolitan area is a prime example of how strong employment growth is putting a strain on the housing supply available in many U.S. cities. Since 2000, the number of Twin Cities households that face a housing cost burden—defined as spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing—has increased by 25 percent to a total of 199,000 households as of 2015, according to the Metropolitan Council.

An affluent community dominated by luxury homes and high-end resorts, Florida’s Collier County has struggled to meet demand for workforce housing. A ULI Advisory Service program panel recommended practical strategies for addressing this shortage.

The National Retail Federation predicts a record-breaking 2025 holiday season, with U.S. sales for November and December projected to grow between 3.7 percent and 4.2 percent—pushing total holiday sales past $1 trillion for the first time. Yet there also are signs that consumers are nervous; that mood, plus accounting for inflation, could leave holiday spending relatively flat.

From Dead Mall to Living District: Replacing the “Great Wall of Galleria” with a Connected Urban Core

For decades, civic leaders have tried to revitalize Market Street, San Francisco’s central thoroughfare, only to see their efforts founder. “I sometimes call it the great white whale of San Francisco,” says Eric Tao, managing partner at L37 Development in San Francisco and co-chair of ULI San Francisco. “Every new mayor, every new planning director, every new economic development director has chased that white whale.” This year, however, an international competition of ideas hosted and run by ULI San Francisco, with support from the ULI Foundation, generated fresh momentum for reimagining the boulevard. The competition drew 173 submissions from nine countries and sparked new conversations about the future of downtown San Francisco.