Each year, the ULI Spring Meeting brings together world-renowned real estate leaders to share their insights on key industry topics. In 2025, the focus was on ideas and trends shaping the future of real estate and urban development.
Capital Markets & Lending Trends
The construction market has been moving slowly, with lending institutions, although open for business, remaining highly selective due to interest rates and limited capital availability. This environment has resulted in a scarcity of new construction over the past few years.
Experts noted that capital availability depends heavily on the quality of deals and sponsors, creating a sharp distinction between high-quality projects and others. In today’s selective lending climate:
- Only well-capitalized, experienced developers with strong fundamentals are likely to secure financing.
- Investors are advised to prioritize partnerships with proven sponsors and projects demonstrating resilience and long-term value.
Sustainability in Action: The Populus Hotel
The meeting also featured a tour of the Populus, Denver Hotel—a biophilic, net-zero development that represents the future of sustainable hospitality.
- Design Inspiration: The unique exterior façade resembles aspen trees, symbolizing the hotel’s connection to nature.
- Sustainable Features: Advanced water management systems, efficient operations, and sustainability woven into both design and construction.
- Industry Significance: More than a striking biophilic design, Populus embodies the industry’s growing commitment to environmentally responsible hospitality that integrates seamlessly with urban life.
Historic Preservation & Adaptive Reuse
Another major theme was the revitalization of historic properties and the expansion of adaptive reuse practices.
- Revitalization for Community Benefit: By introducing retail shops, public gathering areas, and cultural amenities, historic properties can foster community engagement and drive economic development.
- Beyond Office-to-Residential Conversions: Experts highlighted creative reuse opportunities such as medical facilities, storage, and neighborhood-scale transformations, repurposing not only buildings but also surrounding streets to better serve communities.
Creative Placemaking: Denver’s RiNo District
The River North Art District (RiNo) tour highlighted how art-driven revitalization can transform an industrial district into a vibrant, walkable, mixed-use neighborhood.
- Placemaking in Action: Restaurants, retail, and colorful graffiti have created a dynamic environment fostering community engagement.
- Parallel to Keynote Themes:
- Innovation Through Adversity (Amy Purdy): RiNo mirrors how challenges can spark creativity, reimagining underutilized spaces into thriving destinations.
- Adaptability (Fareed Zakaria): RiNo’s evolution reflects the need for cities to remain agile, blending authenticity with modern urban demands.
Global Awareness with Local Sensitivity
Although much of the meeting focused on Denver, similar themes resonated in hospitality projects elsewhere, including Ware Malcomb’s work on a luxury hotel in Hawaii.
- Resilience and Respect for Place: Like Purdy’s call for authenticity, successful design in Hawaii requires honoring the land (ʻāina), people, and culture.
- Balancing Global and Local: As Zakaria emphasized, global trends shape traveler expectations, but true hospitality must stay rooted in local identity to create meaningful, sustainable environments.
Keynote Insights
Zakaria and Purdy brought global and personal perspectives that underscored the meeting’s themes.
Fareed Zakaria
- Geopolitical Volatility: Zakaria highlighted the increasing complexity of international relations, including shifting alliances, economic nationalism, and the rise of multipolar power structures.
- Adaptability in Business: He urged leaders to remain agile and informed, noting that thriving in today’s world requires understanding not just local markets but global dynamics.
- Technology and Society: Zakaria also touched on how technological disruption is reshaping labor markets and governance, calling for thoughtful leadership that balances innovation with inclusivity
Amy Purdy
- Overcoming Adversity: After losing both legs to bacterial meningitis at age 19, Purdy rebuilt her life through determination and creativity. She emphasized the importance of focusing on what’s possible rather than what’s lost.
- Innovation Through Necessity: Her journey to return to snowboarding led her to develop custom prosthetics, highlighting how challenges can drive innovation.
- Empowerment and Purpose: Purdy co-founded Adaptive Action Sports to help others with disabilities engage in action sports, showing how personal trials can lead to broader social impact
Shared Themes & Broader Takeaways
Across case studies, tours, and keynotes, the following themes emerged:
- Resilience in Uncertainty – thriving despite global or personal challenges.
- Visionary Leadership – anticipating and shaping change, not just reacting.
- Purpose-Driven Action – aligning projects with deeper missions for lasting impact.
- Transformation Through Creativity & Culture – using design and art to reshape communities.
- Awareness, Local Identity – balancing worldwide trends with authentic, place-based design.
Conclusion
The 2025 ULI Spring Meeting demonstrated that the future of real estate lies at the intersection of global awareness, local sensitivity, and resilient, purpose-driven design. From capital markets to adaptive reuse, from Denver’s RiNo District to Hawaiian resorts, the event highlighted how cities, and the people shaping them, can thrive through vision, creativity, and collaboration.
