Last week, ULI convened a small group of real estate and public health leaders for a workshop focused on developing content for ULI’s next Building Healthy Places publication. The invitation-only workshop provided an opportunity for developers and other leaders working at the intersection of health and real estate to shape the upcoming report.

The new report, which will be released at ULI’s Fall Meeting in New York, will identify strategies and solutions for development practices that promote health. Aimed at developers and property managers and owners as its primary audience, the report will present a set of recommendations for practical strategies and approaches that can improve the health of the people and communities.

The goal of the effort is to inform ULI members about what works for health—from cutting edge to tried and true, inspire our members to utilize these strategies, and illuminate approaches with best practice examples, in order to encourage their adoption in more places.

Chris Pyke, Vice President of Research at the U.S. Green Building Council, and Jeremy Sharpe, Vice President of Community Development at Sharpe & Associates, talk during the workshop.

Overarching health inputs or goals advanced by the report may include:

• Increase access to nature and sunlight
• Increase physical activity and reduce sedentary activity
• Reduce feelings of stress
• Reduce exposure to toxins
• Increase social engagement and connectedness
• Increase access to healthy food

Jim Murley, Executive Director of the South Florida Regional Planning Council, presents ideas at the workshop.

We are at a time of tremendous creativity and innovation when it comes to the intersection of health and real estate development practice. The new report, which will build on ULI’s previous publications, including Building for Wellness: the Business Case, Ten Principles for Building Healthy Places, and Intersections: Health and the Built Environment, will aggregate practical, tactical ideas for approaches that promote health.

The workshop attendees worked individually and together to identify priority strategies and approaches, as well as development projects which effectively illustrate these ideas.

James Moore, Senior Vice President at HDR, Inc. and Cliff Moser, Director, Facilities Planning and Design, National Facility Services for Kaiser Permanente, participate in a roundtable discussion.

Do you know of projects that promote health?

We continue to seek project ideas. Are you working on development projects that are promoting health in innovative ways? Submit your ideas using this online survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JCFPPTQ

More information on the workshop

Read the blog post of Ted Eytan from Kaiser Permanente about the workshop here.

View more photos from the workshop here.

ULI is grateful to the Colorado Health Foundation for its support of the report and the Building Healthy Places Initiative overall.

ULI extends its appreciation to everyone who participated!