The Urban Land Institute

Emerging Trends in Real Estate® 2009 (#E35) is available from ULI’s online bookstore at www.uli.org/bookstore or by calling 800-321-5011.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure is critical to the vitality of any country. Yet the US is under-investing in infrastructure, threatening the ability of existing networks to continue to perform well, and failing to provide new facilities and systems to meet the demands of a changing and growing population and economy. The infrastructure that does get built is often ill-suited to evolving needs: when we build the right infrastructure, it is often in the wrong places. National and local policies that do not link infrastructure with land use and energy consumption will inevitably lead to growth patterns that are unsustainable, and to an ever larger economic burden on current and future generations of Americans. We need to do better.

The Urban Land Institute’s infrastructure programming engages ULI members and others in an important discussion about the future of infrastructure in the US and elsewhere. Through forums, publications, and other activities, ULI seeks to inform and influence infrastructure decision making, and to link it to land use, so that countries and communities can make improved choices about how and where to invest scarce public and private infrastructure resources. Through this program, ULI works to promote sustainable infrastructure policies that support compact land use and reduce energy consumption.

News

ULI Announces Initiative to Promote Regional Infrastructure Decision Making With Land Use Planning and Sustainable Development
A new ULI initiative to educate decision makers on the importance of integrating infrastructure with land use planning, housing and sustainable development practices is being supported by ULI Trustee James J. Curtis III, managing partner, Bristol Group, Inc. in San Francisco.

The Growth of Moscow’s Postindustrial Art Spaces
New art zones are an important aspect within the overall development of the Russian capital.

From Cowboys to Culture: Dallas/Fort Worth Is Home to Some of the Nation’s Largest Arts Districts
Performance venues and museums are big assets to retail, housing, and offices in Dallas and Fort Worth.

Alexander Otto—Like Father, Like Son

Alexander Otto followed in his father’s footsteps. At the age of 40, he has become a real estate tycoon, and is poised to take over the chairmanship of ULI Europe.

"The City In 2050: Creating Blueprints For Change"--ULI Explores Future Urban Design And Development With Visionary Exhibit
An urban laboratory that explores factors shaping the future design and development of cities worldwide -- including emerging trends for alternative energy use, new technology affecting housing, and new approaches to achieve economic, social and environmental sustainability – is being prepared by the Urban Land Institute (ULI). "The City in 2050: Creating Blueprints for Change" will debut at the Institute's upcoming Annual Fall Meeting and Urban Land Expo, slated for October 27-30 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Fla.

Events

Place Making: The Business of Creating Thriving Mixed-Use Development
Location: Denver, CO
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The essence of place making is the creation of economically vibrant, aesthetically attractive, lively and engaging, pedestrian-friendly places. Increasingly, another factor is coming into play—sustainability—leading to an increased focus on infill, mixed-use, walkable, and transit-served development projects as critical components for building healthy and enduring communities. However, delivering these dividends continues to be full of challenges for both developers and public officials. This year’s conference will focus on approaches that are being used to support mixed-use place making projects. The conference will address the challenges inherent in both infill and greenfield place making including neighborhood opposition, complicated financing structures, public/private partnerships, changing markets, and unfriendly regulatory environments.

More about this event

Award Winning Projects

Meudon Campus
Five speculative low-rise office buildings, totaling 44,300 square metres, comprise this two-hectare green-roofed office park built on the brownfield remains of a Roman hillside quarry and, more recently, an auto factory. In between the Issy les Moulineaux and La Defense office submarkets, the Meudon Campus has 450 metres of Seine River frontage and views of Paris.

Nihonbashi Mitsui Tower
Mitsui Tower is a 39-storey office tower atop a podium that includes a luxury hotel, restaurants, and a museum that displays the cultural collection of the Mitsui family. The project was allowed to exceed its as-of-right FAR by transferring the unused FAR of the adjacent landmark Mitsui Honkan building.

One Raffles Quay
One Raffles Quay is a 124,000 square-metre speculative Class A office building for IT and financial services companies in Singapore. The 1.14-hectare site straddles a subway line and produces cooling energy for itself and 800,000 additional square metres of space in adjacent buildings.

Perspectives Charter School
Perspectives Charter School is an educational and architectural intervention on an otherwise unusable triangular site in Chicago’s industrial near south side.

RAND Corporation Headquarters
By selling almost 12 acres of its 15 downtown acres to the city of Santa Monica, RAND was able to build a state-of-the-art, Gold LEED headquarters building without diminishing its ability to attract world-class talent, while the city gained desirable land for expanding its civic and cultural center.

At the Local Level

Learn about sponsored educational forums and events such as trends conferences, Smart Growth programs, and project tours, through community outreach programs, and by providing industry expertise to community leaders.

The Growth of Moscow’s Postindustrial Art Spaces
New art zones are an important aspect within the overall development of the Russian capital.

Alexander Otto—Like Father, Like Son

Alexander Otto followed in his father’s footsteps. At the age of 40, he has become a real estate tycoon, and is poised to take over the chairmanship of ULI Europe.

Experts

Robert Dunphy, Senior Resident Fellow, Transportation

Tom Murphy, Senior Resident Fellow, ULI/Klingbeil Family Chair for Urban Development

More information

Research and Publications

Changing Metropolitan America: Planning for a Sustainable Future
Providing expert insight into the ways the nation's metropolitan areas are changing, this book explores the land use issues that affect quality of life and makes recommendations for reducing sprawl dependence on cars , encouraging sustainability, investing on infrastructure, availability of workforce housing, shopping and leadership in land use.

Infrastructure 2008: A Competitive Advantage
Infrastructure 2008: A Competitive Advantage provides a snapshot of current and planned infrastructure investment in a variety of categories across the globe, with an in-depth look at the United States, China, Japan, India and Europe.

Infrastructure 2007: A Global Perspective
This report is based on wide research and four forums that were held in New York, Los Angeles, and Mumbai. These forums brought together experts from the fields of development, design, finance, engineering, and the public sector.

Solara
Powered entirely by on-site photovoltaic panels and constructed using green building techniques, Solara is a 56-unit affordable housing complex located in an affluent suburb of San Diego.

New Street Garage
In the heart of the historic district of downtown Staunton, Virginia, stands a 277-space, five-story parking garage that is designed to fit into the architectural context of its surroundings.

The Cap at Union Station
The Cap at Union Station is a $7.8 million retail development that reconnects downtown Columbus, Ohio, with the burgeoning Short North arts and entertainment district. Opened in October 2004, the project effectively heals part of a 40-year scar that was created by the construction of the city’s Interstate 670 (I-670) inner-belt highway. Composed of three separate bridges—one for through-traffic across the highway, and one on either side for the retail structures—the Cap provides 25,496 square feet (2,369 square meters) of leasable space, transforming the void caused by I-670 into a seamless urban streetscape with nine retail shops and restaurants. While other cities like Seattle and Kansas City have erected convention centers over urban highways, the I-670 Cap is one of the first speculative retail projects built over a highway in the United States.

The Historic Ford Factory
The Historic Ford Factory is an adaptive use project that involved the transformation of an auto assembly plant into a six-story, 120,000-square-foot (11,148-square-meter) modern office building. The rehabilitation and conversion of the formerly deteriorating 1915 landmark, once declared a "Blight of the Week" by a local newspaper, were conducted in compliance with National Park Service (NPS) guidelines. The project is in a prominent highway location just four miles (6.4 kilometers) from downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The building is fully leased at market-rate or above-market-rate rents in a relatively soft market. The development includes 470 surface and structured parking spaces.

San Elijo Hills Town Center
The San Elijo Hills Town Center is the 70-acre (28.3-hectare), mixed-use core of San Elijo Hills, a 1,920-acre (777-hectare) master-planned development located in San Marcos, about 40 miles (64.4 kilometers) north of San Diego. The Town Center includes a public school with an attached public library, live/work units, condominiums, and townhouses, and when complete will also contain a church, additional condominiums located above 65,000 square feet (6,038.5 square meters) of retail space, and a 49,000-square-foot (4,552-square-meter) grocery store. All of these uses are oriented around a town square. Designed by Calthorpe Associates and developed by HomeFed Corporation, the San Elijo Hills Town Center relies on sets of one-way roads (called couplets) instead of standard arterials to circulate traffic.