ULI emphasizes planning, not development, during downturn

Developers discuss roles

Steve Hawley, Nov 13, 09.

The Urban Land Institute (ULI), which consists largely of developers, discussed the importance of planning, not just development, at its fall meeting earlier this month, according to California Planning & Development Report.

The article reports:

In particular, the topic seemed to be how developers can participate in the planning game – or, at the very least, work for the government during the downturn. For example, one panel of dealmaking experts focused exclusively on how to become a development advisor to local governments until the market turns again. “Developers understand the value of time and money,” said Frank Baltz, of Maryland-based Edgemoor Real Estate Services. Governments don’t understand the value of either, he added, but savvy government folks do understand that they can build necessary public projects at a low cost during an economic downturn.

ULI and PriceWaterhouseCoopers also released their annual report, Emerging Trends in Real Estate, according to the Huffington Post. The well-respected report, which has been released annually for the last 30 years, says that investment opportunities are much greater in smart growth than in sprawl. It discourages developers from investing in areas “with long car commutes or where getting a quart of milk means taking a 15-minute drive” and says that outlying suburbs “may have no staying power.”

The report also states that prized suburban schools will begin faltering as their sprawl-oriented tax bases decline, and it encourages investments in urban and environmentally-friendly areas.

Full report: Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2010 (pdf)