Real estate professionals—from developers to investors—may need to re-evaluate underwriting assumptions and growth expectations.

Deal-making has lately proved to be tough sledding for the commercial real estate industry. Although 2024 brought a welcome rise off the bottom in year-over-year sales, total sales still came in at the second-lowest level since 2013. The latest data from MSCI Real Assets shows $438 trillion in 12-month trailing sales volume through February, a 15 percent increase on a year-over-year basis.

The search for new growth and potential out-performance is shifting real estate allocations toward niche sectors such as cold storage, medical office, single-family rentals (SFR), and senior housing.

Located on the site of the former Ritz Theater, the South Grand Community Improvement District in St. Louis spearheaded the transformation of Ritz Park in 2014 from vacant lot to popular gathering spot for movies, concerts, plays, markets, and festivals. Unfortunately, the new space was devoid of shade, making it too uncomfortable for daytime use during the summer.

The creation of public space from unused, underused, or unequally shared linear spaces in urban areas has been happening for a long time. Major reference points in the architectural and planning worlds are Boston’s Emerald Necklace, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (1878–1896); Freeway Park in Seattle (1972-1976); the Baltimore Inner Harbor (1963–1983); the Promenade Plantée in Paris (1987-1994); and the High Line in New York (2005–2019).

A redevelopment plan for a former industrial site in Cleveland presented by a team of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology students has taken top honors in the 23rd annual ULI/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition. This year’s competition asked students for proposals to create a vibrant, mixed-use, mixed-income area on a former industrial site in on Cleveland’s East Side.

As drones and electric flying vehicles mature, China imagines a new urban landscape

A shuttered higher-education campus receives new life as housing for older adults while providing significant benefits to the surrounding community

Finding success in deploying a collaborative strategy to combat the local housing crisis.

The commercial real estate industry is voicing strong support for the Energy Star program as the Trump administration proposes substantial budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, a change that could jeopardize the voluntary program’s future or eliminate it entirely.

Neighborhood collaboration is key to swift rebuilding

In anticipation of the ULI Resilience Summit, the Institute’s annual climate adaptation event to be held May 15, 2025, in Denver, Colorado, Urban Land spoke with Karen Mahrous, a member of the ULI Programs Committee who helped shaped the event’s content, to learn more about what attendees can expect at this flagship event.

Local governments are rolling out new and updated programs—including tax incentives and zoning amendments—to encourage developers to convert vacant office buildings to some other use.

U.S. tariffs have increased from around 3 percent to 24.8 percent on a trade-weighted rate—the highest in over a century—and would climb to 32.8 percent if all proposed levies were implemented. The Yale Budget Center conservatively estimates that tariffs will cause the personal consumption expenditures price index to rise 3 percent, cutting household purchasing power by $4,900 annually.

During the 2025 ULI Housing Opportunity Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, a pivotal discussion centered on innovative funding solutions to address homelessness. The “Homeless to Housed: Marrying the Money with the Deal” session, moderated by Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett, featured key leaders in affordable housing, including Shannon Nazworth, president and CEO of Ability Housing; Joy Horak-Brown, president and CEO of New Hope Housing; and Margot Besnard, an associate on the acquisitions team at Jonathan Rose Companies.