One of the most informative events of the calendar year is later this month, as the Urban Land Institute (ULI) hosts its annual Trends Day event on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at the J.W. Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort. Registration is open through Feb. 17 at the Arizona ULI website, arizona.uli.org.
ULI Arizona Trends Day is a one-day, deep dive into topics and trends that affect all facets of development. The event brings together top industry experts to discuss the most current state and national real estate trends, with a focus on what to expect in the future, where the best opportunities can be found, and how these components affect both public and private sector partners.
One of the highlights of the event is the keynote speaker, which is sponsored this year by Nathan & Associates, Inc. Platon, an internationally-acclaimed photographer and member of the Arts and Culture Board at the World Economic Forum (Davos), will deliver the address. According to the event guild, Platon turns his lens on over 100 international leaders from across the political spectrum to create a profound portrait of global power. Captured with unique candor and insight, he offers an intimate glimpse of the personalities behind the public faces of the world’s most powerful decision-makers.
The event opens at 7 a.m., with registration and networking breakfast sponsored by Landmark Title Assurance Agency and Maricopa County IDA. Gwyneth Jones Cote, president for the Americas for ULI, Heidi Kimball, senior VP of Sunbelt Holdings and ULI Arizona District Council chair and Amy Malloy, managing principal at Evolve Ventures and Trends Day 2020 chair will welcome attendees before giving the stage to Ali Wolf, director of economic research at Meyers Research LLC, who will give an economic outlook presentation, which is being sponsored by Walker & Dunlop.
The morning session will feature a video, sponsored by CBIZ and MHM, that explores the economic drivers, cultural icons, and historic pivot points that have propelled Arizona from agricultural outpost to today. How and why did we get here, and where might we go?
Next will be a panel discussion titled Real Estate Development Through the Decades. That panel, which is sponsored by SkySong, will feature Drew Brown, co-founder of DMB; Anne Mariucci, a member of the Taylor Morrison board of directors; and former Arizona Governor Fife Symington. That panel will be moderated by the VP of communications for the Phoenix Suns, Maria Baier.
The next panel, titled the Future of Commercial Development, will be looking back over the last 20 years of commercial real estate development in Arizona and comparing it to the types of development we can expect going forward in our community. Members of that panel, which is sponsored by Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie, are Plaza Companies president and CEO Sharon Harper, Lincoln Property Company executive VP David Krumwiede, Vintage Partners partner David Scholl and Lazarus & Silvyn, P.C. partner Keri Silvyn. Steve Betts, founder and president at Betts Real Estate Advisors, will moderate.
After a quick hit feature on Trade, Tariffs and Twitter – Impacts on Real Estate sponsored by the City of Peoria, the next panel is titled How Global Trade Impacts Arizona Growth, sponsored by Alliance Bank. This panel looks at how trade volatility is directly impacting real estate development and construction in Arizona. At the same time, foreign direct investment in the US real estate industry is booming. This panel of experts will take a deeper dive into the current status of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and its likely effect on the industry, as well as discussing threats and opportunities with China and other international trade partners.
President and CEO of the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Glenn Hamer, will moderate the panel, and will be joined by Marco A. Lopez, Jr., CEO of Intermestic Partners; Sheryl Palmer, chairman and CEO of Taylor Morrison Home Corporation; and R. Glenn Williamson, founder and CEO of the Canada Arizona Business Council.
The next presentation will be a quick hit sponsored by Sunbelt Holdings that features Howard Epstein, founder of the Arizona Housing Fund and national executive, OREO/Real Estate Asset Sales for Bank of America. The presentation is titled Addressing Affordable Housing and Homelessness.
The final presentation of the morning is titled The New Market for the Built Environment, sponsored by Cushman & Wakefield. The panel will discuss how residential and commercial development now incorporates state of the art technology, lifestyle preferences (where we live/where we work), shopping has become experiential, and all asset classes are adding spaces and environments with health and wellbeing components. Spaces today are about programming and design and access to green and usable open space. How we used space 15 years ago differs from today and how we will use it in the future.
That panel will include Kristina Floor, president of Floor Associates; Curt Kremer, founder and managing partner of George Oliver, LLC; and Jason Schupbach, director of the Design School at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University. Steve Lindley, executive director – Capital Markets for Cushman & Wakefield will moderate.
After lunch, ULI Arizona District Council executive director Deb Sydenham will deliver the ULI Highlights of the past year and she will be followed by Platon and the keynote presentation.
Next on the schedule will be a panel discussion titled, “The Future of Healthcare and Biotechnology,” sponsored by the City of Tempe. This panel will not only discuss the incredible innovations in the field of medicine, but also how trends in healthcare delivery are affecting the development and design of health-related services and amenities while shaping their real estate environment. Ioanna T. Morfessis, president of IO.Inc. will moderate the panel, which will include Dr. Michael E. Berens, deputy director of research resources for Translational Genomics Research Institute; Dr. Rafael Fonseca, Getz Family Professor of Cancer and chair for the Department of Medicine and director of innovation and transformational relationships at Mayo Clinic – Arizona; Craig Passey, principal and studio leader at SmithGroup; and Douglas Woodruff, West Region executive and Sr. Vice President for Wexford Science + Technology.
A presentation led by Joseph Backbourn, president and CEO of Everest Holdings, and mural artist Hugo Medina will provide information on the ULI2D Community Mural Project. This presentation is sponsored by CBRE.
The next panel is titled The Future of Brands: Hospitality Trends in Phoenix and Beyond. The panel, sponsored by the Holualoa Companies, will address key questions such as: What are the types of brands that are finding success? What are the branding trends generally and in Phoenix? Will all this brand growth continue, or have we reached a saturation point? Where are investors and lenders putting their money? How is industry consolidation impacting the lodging market?
Moderating this panel will be Lindsay Jewell, partner at Perkins Coie. She will be joined by Joseph Long, managing partner at KHP Capital Partners; Noah J. Silverman, chief development officer for North American Full Service Hotels at Marriott International; and Richard A. Warnick, managing director and co-chairman at CHMWarnick.
The final panel is titled Vision 2020 – What it Means for Arizona. Sponsored by 100 Mill and Chandler Viridian, the panel will feature two of our industry’s best and brightest providing their insightful take-a-ways from all the day’s panels and speakers. Gregory Bielli, president and CEO of Tejon Ranch Co., and Gadi Kaufmann, managing director, CEO of RCLCO Real Estate Advisors, each have a deep understanding and experience with our market but bring to their comments a breadth of national perspective. Moderated by Karrin Taylor Robson, founder and president of Arizona Strategies, this discussion will put a bow on the days’ discussions.
There will also be a networking reception, sponsored by Gammage & Burnam and Gensler, following the last panel.
