Amazon’s Real Estate Story, Corporate Relocations, Trump Administration’s First 100 Days among Highlights

For more information, contact: Trisha Riggs at 202/624-7086

WASHINGTON (February 7, 2017) – A broad range of factors shaping urban design and development, including corporate relocations, technology advancements, demographic shifts, new economic drivers, and social equity issues, will be discussed at the Urban Land Institute’s 2017 Spring Meeting May 2-4 at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle.

A highlight of the meeting will be a real estate education session, “The Amazon Real Estate Story,” featuring John Schoettler, director of Global Real Estate, Facilities and Business Continuity at Amazon, who will discuss what drove the company’s decision to create a 10-million-square-foot urban campus in Seattle. Another key session, “Corporate Relocations: Suburbia’s Loss Is Downtown’s Gain,” which will feature Doyle R. Simons, president and chief executive officer of Weyerhaeuser, who will discuss the company’s move from the Seattle suburb of Federal Way to the city’s downtown, and Ann Klee, vice president of Boston Development and Operations for General Electric, who will be discussing GE’s move from Fairfield, Connecticut to downtown Boston.

Register now and join us in Seattle!

Among other highlights:

• Keynote presentations from Alaska Airlines CEO Bradley Tilden on effective leadership, and Daniel James Brown, author of New York Times bestseller The Boys in the Boat, on staying resilient during difficult times
• Real estate sessions, including:
  • “The Economic and Political View from Washington: The First 100 Days of the Trump Administration”
  • “Learning in Real Time: Experts Share Their Forecasts for Real Estate in ’17, ’18, and ’19”
  • “The Housing Paradox: Why Can’t We Build Enough Housing to Match Job Growth?”
  • “Discover the Future: Learn about Emerging Technologies Transforming the Real Estate Industry”
• Mobile tours, including:
  • Eastside Story: Microsoft, Spring District, and Downtown Bellevue
  • Tacoma: City of Destiny
  • Pioneer Square: Still a Work in Progress
  • Pike Place Market and the Waterfront: Reinvesting in Connections

The Spring Meeting, open only to ULI full members and ULI Northwest members, routinely draws nearly 3,000 attendees, including renowned industry experts from around the world sharing insights on all aspects of real estate. “At the 2017 Spring Meeting in Seattle, our members can look forward to excellent networking and abundant knowledge sharing in one of America’s most dynamic, forward-looking cities,” said ULI Global Chief Executive Officer Patrick L. Phillips. “There is much to be learned from the lessons of Seattle about creative community building that adapts to changing economic drivers and places a high priority on livability for all residents.”

Seattle is ranked the fourth best city in the United States for investment and development prospects in 2017 by Emerging Trends in Real Estate®, the annual industry forecast published by ULI and PwC. The report points to the city’s economic diversification, with cuts in aerospace production being offset by rapid growth in information technology firms. The combination of strong job growth and rising incomes is projected to push up household formation in 2017, increasing demand for multifamily and single-family housing, the report notes. “The fundamentals for the success of the Seattle market appear well established for another year,” Emerging Trends predicts.

The meeting’s Host Committee, which is charged with maximizing the visibility of the Seattle metropolitan area real estate market to meeting attendees, is being co-chaired by ULI Trustee and ULI Foundation Governor Patrick Callahan, founder and chief executive officer of Urban Renaissance Group LLC in Seattle; and ULI Trustee and ULI Foundation Governor Gregory Johnson, president of Wright Runstad and Company in Seattle. Callahan and Johnson are actively involved in the ULI Northwest district council; Callahan served as the district council’s first chairman and Johnson served as the second chairman.

“Transformative development is happening everywhere in the greater Seattle region, with creative, innovative projects that are changing the way we think about the possibilities for our built environment,” Callahan said. “The ULI 2017 Spring Meeting presents a unique opportunity to showcase these exciting changes to our members in the Americas region and around the globe.”

Johnson noted the presence of eight Fortune 500 companies, including Amazon, in the downtown area, each within walking distance of the convention center. “Our goal is to deliver a successful, content-rich experience to our members, while highlighting the culture of innovation and creativity as well as cutting-edge projects occurring in Seattle and throughout our region,” he said.

The 2017 Spring Meeting is made possible with generous support from several sponsors, including Icon sponsors Amazon and the Holland Partner Group; and Principal sponsors Microsoft, NGKF Capital Markets, the Urban Renaissance Group and Vulcan Real Estate. An all-attendee reception will be hosted by Amazon at Doppler, its new corporate headquarters in downtown Seattle.

Registration for ULI’s Spring Meeting is complimentary for the media. For more information about the meeting, please contact Trish Riggs at [email protected], 202-624-7086 or 202-679-4557.    

About the Urban Land Institute
The Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has 40,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. For more information, please visit uli.org or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.