Grand Rapids lands UofM/Urban Land Institute Conference 2008

[GRDadof3]

GR Lands Urban Conference

by B. CANDACE BEEKE{sodEmoji.{sodEmoji.|}}Business Review Western Michigan

Friday January 04, 2008, 11:52 AM

For the first time in 22 years, the University of Michigan/Urban Land Institute Real Estate Forum will come to western Michigan, bringing hundreds of attendees from around the state with it.

And that's a win for the entire region, those involved say.

The annual UM/ULI two-day event draws between 200 and 500 attendees every year, said planning committee chair Tom Wackerman, president of ASTI Environmental, with an office in Grand Rapids. Those hundreds will be strolling the streets of downtown Grand Rapids this Oct. 15 and 16.

GR lands urban conference

Urban Land Insitute Website

UM/ULI Real Estate Forum

This is great news for GR! I wonder how many new tower cranes and groundbreakings we can squeeze in before October 15th?

[Veloise]

I am fairly certain that this was the conference I attended in Detroit a few years ago. Much bus touring there. Hope we can get them out on the ground (perhaps even the trails).

[joeDowntown]

I definitely hope GR rolls out the red carpet. It sounds like a great conference to showcase where we're going.

Joe

[GRDadof3]

Veloise,

Did the bus tour actually "stop" at different projects for tours? I wonder how a developer can get on the list of tour stops if so?

[Veloise]

Veloise,

Did the bus tour actually "stop" at different projects for tours? I wonder how a developer can get on the list of tour stops if so?

[GRDadof3]

The Freep is actually saying something nice about GR:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...1019/BUSINESS06

The commercial real estate conference will meet for the first time outside the Ann Arbor-metro Detroit region for its 22nd annual gathering Oct. 15-16.

The forum will take place at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel in Grand Rapids. Speakers and attendees will focus on the rapidly growing Grand Rapids area.

http://www.umuliforum.com/

If I were planning this bus tour, I'd target the following areas where you can see entire sections that are in process or have already been redeveloped:

) Seward/6th Avenue - no brainer, Israels' furniture empire, lots of brick, lots of activity, rail line

) American Seating Park and Union Square - cool living and office spaces

) Monroe Ave/6th Street Park - again, cool living and office spaces, linear green space

) Medical Mile down to Benson/Mid Towne Village area

) Cherry/Lake/Diamond - urban retail success

) Wealthy Street - Rebirth of an historic theater district

) Madison Square - Lighthouse Properties projects

) Campau Commons - "Projects" tear down and rebuild, Campau School that was to be closed makes list of best schools in the country, enrollment rebounds

) St Mary's Campus Master Plan/Hope Lodge/Hauenstein/Cathedral Square

) South Division - Avenue for the Arts, new streetscapes and artwork

) Commerce/Ionia - Cooley, WMU, Douglas J, apartment projects, proposed liner development, Ionia entertainment district, Gallery on Fulton

) Grandville Ave - HF, Founders, Ballet, ITP, Ice House, 44/56/32/100 Grandville renovations

) GVSU Pew Campus and downtown YMCA

..if there was enough time.

[Veloise]

The Freep is actually saying something nice about GR:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article...1019/BUSINESS06

...

[GRDadof3]

Link isn't working. (Skier's Body Found in Kent County? Detroit Public Schools spent $1.5 million on trips, catering? Housing downturn forces Universal Forest to shut plants?)

Seriously, Freep reporters who venture this far west (it's a three-hour tour from W. Lafayette) fall in love.

Detroit area steers Michigan's economy states "Detroit's real gross domestic product -- the market value of final goods and services produced in the area, adjusted for inflation -- is more than six times that of Grand Rapids, the state's next biggest metropolitan economy." Well, duh. Metro Detroit has more than six times the population of the GR area.

[allbusiness]

Veloise,

Did the bus tour actually "stop" at different projects for tours? I wonder how a developer can get on the list of tour stops if so?

[allbusiness]

Unless I missed something, this thread has been dormant for 3 months now!

With 2 1/2 months to go before the actual event, I guess there's a lot of time to build excitement, but I am surprised that most realtors, developers and contractors I talk with are not aware of this event coming to Grand Rapids this year for the first time in its 22 year history.

I do know that the walking and the bus tours have been finalized. Does anyone have a PDF of it that they can share here?

The UM/ULI website is regularly updated with the latest sponsors and schedule information.

Grand Rapids Business Journal and Crain's Detroit Business are co-sponsoring Real Estate Excellence Awards as part of this year's program. Nominate someone here.

[GRobserver]

Just bought my ticket, anyone else going?

[Veloise]

Looks like they are still working on speakers. (I can think of a couple reasons why that might be...see freep.com today)

UP is "public officials," right?

[GRDadof3]

Looks like they are still working on speakers. (I can think of a couple reasons why that might be...see freep.com today)

UP is "public officials," right?

[Veloise]

http://www.umuliforum.com/

I'll see if they are accepting local volunteers or tour guides.

ETA: Their conference contact is a PR firm in A2. My offer was rebuffed: "we have student volunteers from the U-M Real Estate Club to help us out."

So someone local, who knows the closest place to obtain provisions or can describe the a history of a building or area, is not needed. Maybe the students can just google the answer on their Blackberries. (Kids, the closest Meijer is on Alpine Ave, a north-south street west of the AGP.)

[always acting as local tour guide]