ULI CEO highlights inner suburbs for future growth

‘Inner-ring suburbs’

Alan Halter, Jun 29, 11.

The future of real estate development is in between downtown centers and the outer suburbs, so called ‘inner-ring suburbs,’ according to Patrick Phillips, the CEO of the Urban Land Institute, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Philips clarified the “ULI’s vision of high-density, mixed-use development spurred by an array of burgeoning factors” at the National Association of Real Estate Editors annual conference in San Antonio on June 15. Philips’ take home message, according to the Wall Street Journal:

People increasingly are moving back toward the center of cities and into apartments and condominium complexes. The trend is driven by rising transportation and energy costs; fewer people living in the average U.S. household; fewer people willing and able to afford a big, suburban house; and more focus on transportation planning, including mass transit systems.

“The hottest real estate sector in the country right now is apartments,” he said. “That situation will be exacerbated as job growth picks up.”

The continuing evolution of handheld computing, including smart phones and tablets, means fewer people will regularly work in communal offices. “I don’t think we’re going to see the same relation between jobs and the creation of more office space,” he said.

[via Planetizen]