A young leaders thoughts on the ULI 2015 Fall Meeting

In October, I attended my first ULI Fall Meeting in New York City. If you are a regular attendee of the Fall Meeting, you will already be aware of its overarching goal: to connect real estate professionals with each other and explore some of the greatest projects in the world. To be honest, I came to the Meeting to network with these professionals and spend some time with friends in New York, but the Meeting brought me so much more. It highlighted an undeniable fact that by 2050, 2.5 billion people will be living in cities around the world and, as Rob Speyer stated in his opening keynote speech at the conference, this change marks an incredible development opportunity. It is my belief that the meeting provided two key components that we as developers must incorporate in our response to this opportunity — the necessity of data collection and the act of collaboration.

ULI members taking a tour of the expanded Highline

Data collection no longer is a novelty: it is a key component in many businesses and must be incorporated into the field of real estate development. Take, for example, the Hudson Yards. At the Meeting, Jared Kushner, founder and chief executive officer of New York development firm Kushner Companies, said during his session on the use of data and its disruption of the real estate industry that data will be integral to the development of real estate in urban centres. He used an example where he recently tested a helmet made by Oculus VR, a cutting-edge virtual reality gear maker to take a virtual tour of Related Companies’ Hudson Yards development. Kushner pointed out that it is not just about seeing the site from a ‘cool’ virtual perspective — the helmet actually allows viewers (who can be potential leasees) to see how they will fit within the space, look at details of the interiors from floors to ceilings and understand views from all angles of the space.

The Hudson Yards development also exemplifies how many cities are using information technology to better allocate energy resources within a site. Real-time data can be collected to track pedestrian and vehicular traffic; users’ health and activities; noise, energy and waste collection; as well as quality and usage of air and water. Now, this may sound a bit ‘big brother,’ but I think that understanding this aspects of a community through data collection is the key tool we can incorporate to learn how to manage resource allocation and set up infrastructure for the 2.5 million people entering our world.

Hudson Yards

Amtrak holding station at Hudson Yards

The potential of data collection from social media is another key area that I see will be invaluable towards understanding users’ wants and needs. From an economic standpoint, social media can increase revenue in any development at virtually no cost (posting to Twitter, Facebook or Instagram is free). We can leverage the online community and get them to engage and develop creative ideas that we can implement in the development. From a social standpoint, social media can be a voice for both developers as well as the community to clarify ideas and raise any comments, questions and concerns, allowing both parties to be more aware of the needs in their respective spheres. The Fall Meeting made a conscious effort to encourage the use of social media to ignite conversations between attendees and raise interesting questions to speakers and sponsors. I found using social media allowed me to explore outside the walls of the Javits Center.

Closing Keynote Speaker Walter Isaacson on the success of the digital revolution and its relationship to development

After downloading the ULINYC app, I was able to find out who was going to attend the ULI Young Leaders gala and I was able to connect with fellow ULI Canadian delegates and invite them to the inaugural ULICanada social at the Dream Hotel. I was also connected with a number of ULI attendees and invited to connect in some of the most incredible spaces in New York. I was able to tweet my experience in real-time and even had some of my fellow colleagues and Twitter followers who could not attend the event field questions to me. In particular, during Walter Isaacson’s closing keynote speech on the digital revolution, my inbox and Twitter account were inundated with detailed comments and questions that I could pose to the best-selling author and highly acclaimed journalist.

The act of collaboration is not a new concept in real estate development but as Rob Speyer stated in his speech: “We need to radically change our mindsets and sense of our own job descriptions. We cannot just be focused on the brick and mortar. We need to be more than just architects and engineers. We need to be sociologists.” It was both from the topics in sessions and the diverse population of attendees where I saw how true this statement was. For example, on my last day I volunteered to manage a bus tour to Long Island City (these volunteering hours are what enabled me to be able to attend the meeting at little cost). I had never set foot in Queens, so I was particularly interested in the tour and seeing many creatively re-programmed industrial buildings such as Silvercup Studios.

Silvercup Studios Queens, NY

It was fascinating to see how a former flour production room could be transformed into what is now New York City`s largest independent film and television studio and how various companies clustering within the open and flexible industrial space improves their productivity. I also got to visit a re-purposed commercial space that houses an eclectic group of businesses including a 12,000-sq.-ft. space acquired by the production arm of Jim Henson Studios and also home to one of New York`s famed rooftop farms. All the businesses collected here work in very open-concept spaces, and it was obvious from this ‘wall-less’ environment that there was a high level of economic efficiency and creative collaboration.

Jim Henson Creative Studios Queens, NY
Image Courtesy of www.therealdeal.com
Muppets move to Long Island City June 17, 2009

Landscape Architect Thomas Balsley on his Hunters Point South Waterfront Park Queens NY

But what intrigued me even more on my tour were the attendees. I was able to meet and discuss the spaces with an urban planning professor from Switzerland, a landscape architect from Shanghai, two real estate developers from California and a civil servant from Long Island City. The opinions and the conversations that ignited as a result were incredible.

Barring the cost of lunch at the Javits Center, the ULI Fall meeting was, in my opinion, an absolute success. It met its goal – to showcase some of the best projects in New York and beyond, and bring together a great group of minds to discuss the future of real estate development. But the meeting also provided the chance to interact with development in a city that is essentially a ‘City of Cities’ where one can discover how a population of 8.4 million can live well in a space just under 790 square kilometres. I am looking forward to next year in San Francisco: how will it differ from New York? What will San Francisco’s tech community have to offer to the discussion of data and creative collaboration in our world of urban development? We can find out together when I see you next Fall!!!

Kendra FitzRandolph is a member of the ULI Toronto Communications Committee and Social Media Committee. She can be reached at [email protected]

All images courtesy of author, unless otherwise stated.