Regulations and Zoning
From Dead Mall to Living District: Replacing the “Great Wall of Galleria” with a Connected Urban Core
Asia Pacific asset owners are just beginning to grapple with decarbonization and how to factor transition and climate risks into their valuations; even so, some markets and investors are already ahead of the pack. This topic was discussed as part of a recent ULI Asia Pacific webinar, part of a series looking at decarbonization.
The real estate industry can simultaneously combat inequality and boost property values by improving broadband access, according to a new ULI report. Broadband and Real Estate: Understanding the Opportunity, from the Institute’s Curtis Infrastructure Initiative, makes clear that high-speed internet is no longer a luxury but a necessity for participating in society and the economy.
In Furthering Fair Housing: Prospects for Racial Justice in America’s Neighborhoods(2021, Temple University Press), influential housing thought leaders delve into the history of the fair housing and community development movements that have worked to improve housing opportunity for nonwhite households and provide perspectives on potential pathways forward.
A study by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed that tenants who lost jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic may have already amassed $11 billion in rental arrears. Procedures for evictions and foreclosures may be failing the most vulnerable tenants and landlords.
The climate plan outlined by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s administration is significant in that it reaffirms a commitment to addressing climate challenges, said panelists participating in a recent webinar hosted by the ULI Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance. The plan would also provide considerable resources to support and propel innovation throughout the real estate industry in key areas such as energy efficiency, carbon emission mitigation, and climate change resilience.
A ULI Chicago task force has been working to expand housing options in the Chicagoland area by addressing regulatory barriers to the creation of accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
Government policies of racial segregation and redlining have had generations-long effects on the health and well-being of urban inhabitants, attendees heard at the ULI Virtual Fall Meeting panel titled “Deconstructing Segregation: Understanding Local History as a Basis for Equitable Development.” Action will be required if we wish to change those outcomes now.
ULI is renaming its annual $100,000 J.C. Nichols Prize as the ULI Prize for Visionaries in Urban Development. The change represents part of the Institute’s ongoing effort to address and assist in remedying the legacy of social and economic harm caused by some real estate practices.
The ULI Terwilliger Center for Housing has created a Home Attainability Index, designed to support ULI district councils, local municipalities, and members of the development community who are working to address longstanding challenges related to home affordability. Attainable housing and income segregation remain major challenges for families and communities across the United States.
The global impact on human health and economic stability resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak is likely to quickly and dramatically elevate health and wellness as key factors influencing urban design and development as well as building management and operations, according to industry experts convened by ULI for a webinar on the impacts of the pandemic. The event was the first of a series of webinars being offered to explore how various aspects of the real estate industry are being affected by the virus and the industry’s response.
In the past three years, the California Legislature has passed more than a dozen housing reforms addressing a swath of issues, including tenant protections, rent gouging, production of accessory dwelling units (ADUs), streamlined permitting for affordable and market-rate housing, new funding sources, and more. Though the pace may seem slow, there are signs of progress and hope for more in the future, panelists said at a ULI San Francisco event.
Which emerging real estate technologies will become the must-haves, and which will be the near misses? You can take your chances on a $100 doorbell, but if you are investing millions in a property or trying to run a profitable business, you cannot afford to waste resources on fads. Those two questions—what are the unintended consequences, and which technologies have staying power—are themes running throughout this special issue of Urban Land.
A new report from the ULI Greenprint Center for Building Performance shows that the real estate industry has made significant progress over the past 10 years in reducing carbon emissions and energy consumption while increasing asset value. Volume 10 of the Greenprint Performance Report™, which measures and tracks the performance of 8,916 properties owned by Greenprint’s members, demonstrates a 10-year improvement of 17 percent in energy use intensity, which is the annual energy consumption divided by gross floor area. The report also finds that Greenprint members are still on track to reduce carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030.
A new definition of what constitutes a 100-year flood promises to alter how commercial and residential properties in Austin are built and protected, panelists said at a ULI Austin event in December. This effort arose from new data indicating that major storms in Texas dump more rain than had been previously estimated, with more than 2,000 buildings being added to the designated floodplain.
Best-selling author, entrepreneur, and New York University marketing professor Scott Galloway issued an impassioned call for the government breakup of Facebook, Amazon, Google, and Apple, telling attendees at the 2018 ULI Fall Meeting that the four giants of the digital-age economy have grown too large and powerful.
A new report from the Urban Land Institute’s Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance outlines ten fundamental principles for building resilient cities and regions that successfully anticipate, respond to, and recover from both immediate shocks such as hurricanes and other extreme weather events and long-term stresses such as sea-level rise, poverty, and declining population.
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.
Implementation of the Affordable Care Act has driven both health care–related job growth and demand for real estate in the United States. But health care REITs are not immune from external market challenges, and they have thrived in the current low interest rate environment. Plus, interest rate survey data from Trepp.
In her book The End of the Suburbs, Leigh Gallagher argues that while the suburbs suffered the worst during the housing bust, the recession is a catalyst for a much larger trend, driven by high fuel prices, the decline of the nuclear family, and the resurgence of cities. But she also says, “Not all suburbs are going to vanish.”
The built environment is having a critical impact on the physical and emotional well-being of residents and workers, said Richard Jackson, professor and chair of environmental health sciences at the University of California at Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health, speaking to a group of land use, urban design, and community development experts in Washington, D.C.
There are many tough issues to be addressed in finding the best ways to build resilience into coastal regions. But there is also much that has already been studied, is well known, is practical and can be implemented now without the need for new studies. What is needed is for these recommendations to be enacted and to become part of zoning and building codes and the process of approving new development and infrastructure.
Commercial real estate tenants and investors are increasingly explicit in recognizing that an energy-efficient asset produces stronger returns by lowering operating costs. However, information on whole-building energy performance is often unavailable, making it difficult for the market to distinguish between efficient and inefficient assets. Read about changes and progress being made in this area.
