2011 ULI Urban Marketplace Conference Will Discuss the Role of Real Estate in Economic Development

The ULI Los Angeles Urban Marketplace is a unique conference on investment opportunities and development strategies for Southern California's emerging lower-income and distressed neighborhoods. Attracting nearly 5000 real estate and related professionals as well as community and government leaders to its case studies, roundtable discussions, and exhibits, Urban Marketplace attendees learn best practices and solidify relationships with key professionals and leaders at the forefront of revitalizing the inner city.

This year's focus is Successful Real Estate Strategies- Real Estate’s Role in Economic Development. The program will include an Economic Development Panel of Regional Leaders and a keynote address by Wayne Ratkovich, President/CEO, The Ratkovich Company.

The Urban Marketplace 2011 Conference will be held on March 16 from 7:00 AM - 1:00 PM at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. For more information or to register for this event, visit the ULI website here. 

Report from VantageForum 2011 - Real Estate's View

FORM was media sponsor for the Vantage Forum 2011, an annual day-long symposium put on by UCLA Ziman School and ULI this January 11. It was a series of panel discussions featuring high-powered people from real estate divided roughly into 4 topics: Housing, Office, Retail, and Capital Markets.

I can’t say there was any earth-shattering news. We all suspect that the economy is recovering via some combination of government stimulus, cash too long on the sidelines, and simple recession fatigue. Nevertheless, there were a lot of great take-aways that might be guiding principles for marketing strategies in the design business.

First and foremost, where is the money? It turns out the retailers have it--not retail developers, but retailers like Safeway. Fascinating story: Safeway needed to expand, but the developers that normally build their centers could not get financing. Safeway had regular cash flow and started its own development company. It uses its highly tuned in-house demographics operation to ID compatible partners (eg. Target) to build new centers with.

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Los Angeles Civic Park Conceived As Urban Core

Rios Clementi Hale Studios’ design for the new Los Angeles Civic Park will result in a transformational urban space in the tradition of the world’s great city parks. Unifying a 12-acre linear site across four blocks in the heart of downtown Los Angeles’ civic and cultural centre, Civic Park is envisioned as an iconic destination celebrating the city’s multicultural and horticultural diversity. It is part of the larger Grand Avenue Plan to revitalise the entire area. The project broke ground on July 15, 2010. 

Read more about it here.

New Transit Hub at Bob Hope Airport

A large $120-million transit center that would combine bus, train and rental car traffic into one hub at Bob Hope Airport took a step closer to reality Tuesday after the Burbank City Council voted 4 to 1 to settle a number of land-use issues. The council asked officials to come back with more fine-tuned landscaping proposals and a tighter agreement requiring that the land be used only for a transit center. Airport representatives said it represented a major step forward for the massive project.

The project includes room for 14 buses with a transit lounge and a new parking structure for airport patrons, an elevated pedestrian bridge over Empire Avenue to connect to the parking lot, a new paved parking lot currently used by airport employees and patrons that will have more spaces, and solar panels covering the soon-to-be facility to not only supplement the center's energy consumption, but eventually contribute to the city's power grid.

Read more about it here.

The Strathmore Situation

The controversy continues in Westwood over Richard Neutra's Strathmore Apartments. Residents of the 1937 complex, including FORM contributing writer Michael Webb, are trying to stop a Dallas-based developer from moving forward with its plan of building a five-story rooming house, intended for nearby UCLA students, directly across the street. The project has been approved by the City Planning Department, and residents are preparing a final appeal to the Area Planning Commission. For more information visit: neutralives.org