Renowned Panel of Land Use, Planning, and Resilience Experts to Visit Area from June 2-7

WASHINGTON (May 30, 2019) — A group of nationally renowned land use, urban planning and resilience experts representing the Urban Land Institute (ULI) will be making recommendations next week to the City of Miami and the Miami Downtown Development Authority on a roadmap for improving the resilience of the city’s waterfront and mitigating the effects of sea level rise along Biscayne Bay and the Miami River. ULI is a global, multidisciplinary real estate organization whose work is driven by more than 44,000 members dedicated to responsible land use and building thriving, sustainable communities.

The ULI representatives, convened through ULI’s renowned Advisory Services Program, will be visiting the city from June 2 to 7. Sponsored by the City of Miami and the Miami Downtown Development Authority, the Advisory Services panelists will consider and provide strategic recommendations on:

• Updating waterfront design guidelines to incorporate the city’s resilience goals and align with the city’s form-based code, bolstering the Baywalk and Riverwalk,
• Defining public and private sector roles and recommending financing strategies for green and grey infrastructure improvements, and
• Developing a policy direction that enhances flooding and storm surge resiliency with a specific focus on hi-rises and historic buildings that cannot be elevated or demolished.

The panel will be chaired by leading ULI member Ladd Keith, chair of the Sustainable Built Environments Program and urban planning faculty for the University of Arizona’s College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. “We are looking forward to bringing the expertise of ULI members to Miami and engaging in a robust dialogue to address the impacts of sea level rise and climate change,” said Keith. “Our panelists will be talking with a broad range of stakeholders and exploring the challenges and opportunities in the community that are related to improving resilience. From this, we will develop meaningful recommendations for the protection and enhancement of the economic, natural, and human resources in the urban waterfront area.”

Keith will be joined by: panel vice chair Michelle Beaman Chang, founder and chief executive officer,  Imby Community, Inc., Washington, D.C.; Jason Bonnet, vice president of development, Brookfield Properties, San Francisco, California; Samia Byrd, deputy county manager, Arlington County Government, Arlington, Virginia; John Macomber, senior lecturer in the finance unit, Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Michael Rodriguez, leader, market research & insights, mid-Atlantic region, CBRE, Inc., Washington, D.C.; Susannah Ross, landscape architect, Boston, Massachusetts;  Matt Steenhoek, vice president of development, PN Hoffman, Washington, D.C.; Byron Stigge, founder, Level Infrastructure, New York, New York and  Jay Valgora, founder & principal, Studio V Architecture, New York, New York.

In addition to interviewing stakeholders, the panel will tour the waterfront before developing recommendations that will be presented at the conclusion of the panel’s visit.

The panel’s visit to Miami continues a series of activities ULI has conducted in the Miami region regarding urban resilience. Last year, through the Advisory Services program, ULI members assessed the multi-year stormwater management program implemented by  the city of Miami Beach, and recommended improvements that included broadening the strategy. In 2016, a panel of member experts assisted Miami-Dade County in assessing climate vulnerabilities and social equity through an adaptation action area framework. This effort was followed by a grant-supported workshop conducted by the local District Council, ULI Southeast Florida/Caribbean, to explore the use of Transfer of Development Rights as a climate adaptation strategy in south Florida.

Now in its 72^nd year, the ULI advisory services program assembles experts in the fields of real estate and land use planning to participate on panels worldwide, offering recommendations for complex planning and development projects, programs and policies. Panels have developed more than 700 studies for a broad range of land uses, ranging from waterfront properties to inner-city retail.

According to Thomas Eitler, senior vice president of ULI’s advisory services program, the strength of the program lies in ULI’s unique ability to draw on the substantial knowledge of its 44,000-plus members, including land developers, engineers, public officials, academics, lenders, architects, planners and urban designers. “The independent views of the panelists bring a fresh perspective to the land use challenge,” Eitler said. “The advisory services program is all about offering creative, innovative approaches to community building.”

Past sponsors of ULI advisory service panels include federal, state and local government agencies; regional councils of government; chambers of commerce; redevelopment authorities; private developers and property owners; community development corporations; lenders; historic preservation groups; non-profit community groups; environmental organizations and economic development agencies.

NOTE TO REPORTERS AND EDITORS: Members of the public and media are invited to the presentation of the panel’s recommendations on Friday, June 7, from 9 a.m to 10:30 a.m. at Miami City Hall, 3500 Pan American Drive in Miami.