News from the ULI Building Healthy Places Initiative: December 2016

December 8, 2016

The ULI Building Healthy Places Initiative works to engage, inform, and inspire ULI members and partners to do more to advance health. The Initiative wishes you and yours a safe and healthy holiday season.

Member Spotlight: Peter Rummell

Peter Rummell is a successful developer and real estate visionary. He is currently developing the District, an ambitious project to redevelop Jacksonville, Florida’s waterfront in healthier ways. In this member spotlight, Rummell offers his thoughts about health and real estate. “Healthy living is the new golf course—the amenity that all developers are going to want,” he says. Learn more.

ULI Receives New Funding for Building Healthy Places

The ULI Building Healthy Places Initiative will be increasing its impact with two new grants. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is expanding its commitment to ULI with a new two-year, $1.5 million grant to transform corridors into healthy, vibrant, and inclusive mixed-use places, and to support a suite of ambitious programming focused on health. Learn more. The Colorado Health Foundation has given ULI a two-year grant totaling $250,000 to support programming, including work on corridors and food. Learn more. ULI is grateful for its partnerships with these leading health foundations.

New Reports

The Building Healthy Places Initiative released two new reports during the ULI Fall Meeting in Dallas in November.

Building Healthy Corridors: Transforming Urban and Suburban Arterials into Thriving Places explores strategies for transforming commercial corridors—found in nearly every community across the country—into places that support the health of the people who live, work and travel along them. A member-only webinar will be held January 11 at 1:00 p.m. EST; ULI members can register for the webinar here. Learn more about the report.

Cultivating Development: Trends and Opportunities at the Intersection of Food and Real Estate explores how real estate leaders are leveraging a growing interest in local, sustainable, and organic food to craft authentic food experiences and boost the value of their projects. An exploding focus on food is spurring innovation in real estate and providing a rich arena for creativity that can improve outcomes for people, the planet, and profits. Learn more about the report.

New from Urban Land

U.S. Voters Approve Billions for Transit and Green Space—Edward T. McMahon
Making the Investment Case for Smarter Urban Growth—Kathleen McCormick
Bringing a Mixed-Use Strategy to Fading Industrial, Retail, and Hotel Properties—Patrick J. Kiger
Outdoor Space, Modern Food Offerings Help Energize Aging Corporate Campuses—Kevin Brass
Giving Schools a Chance to Succeed in Both Urban and Greenfield Developments—Leslie Braunstein
Cultivating Development: Trends in Food and Real Estate—Edward T. McMahon

From the ULI BHP Network

Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT) based in California, recently became the first REIT to be named a First-in-Class Fitwel Champion. Fitwel, a certification standard operated by ULI partner Center for Active Design, was developed to “foster positive impacts on building occupant health and productivity through improvements to workplace design and policies.” Learn more.