The Urban Land Institute (ULI) is gearing up for its annual Spring Meeting next week hosted in Nashville Tennessee. The event will bring thousands of real estate industry professionals to Nashville for this 3-day event to experience the State’s growth engine. I reached out to Jennifer Carlat, Executive Director of ULI Nashville, to get the scoop on what to expect. Here’s what Jennifer had to say:
- Big picture, can you share a little about what the ULI Spring Meeting is, why Nashville was chosen to host, and how many people do you expect?
The Urban Land Institute (ULI) hosts an annual Spring Meeting, convening 4,500+ land use and real estate leaders to share insights, examine emerging trends, and discuss real-world projects shaping cities.
Nashville last hosted Spring Meeting in 2019 and was chosen to host again due to the city’s rapid growth, lessons to share, active ULI Nashville membership, and because Nashville is known for its warm welcome!
- How is the ULI Spring Meeting structured and what major events are planned.
Spring Meeting is May 5-7 at the Music City Center. Mornings are dedicated to tours – 34 in total looking at development in downtown Nashville, surrounding neighborhoods and in cities throughout Middle Tennessee. Tours range from topical – the business of Lower Broad, to university campuses as catalysts, to innovation in affordable housing, to adaptive reuse – as well as neighborhood-based tours including the East Bank, Germantown, The Nations, and urbanization of the suburbs in Cool Springs.
Attendees reconvene at Music City Center for lunch and a general session speaker, including a surprise speaker on Tuesday.
Afternoons are spent attending one of 30 concurrent sessions. These expert-led sessions cover real estate trends, housing, capital markets, climate resilience, technology, leadership, and more, and feature deep dives into innovative projects and case studies.
Evenings are for networking with receptions and dinners for attendees that showcase Nashville’s neighborhoods, fine dining, and best bars.
- Are there any recurring activities or themes that are used for the ULI Spring Meeting that attendees look forward to? Will there be anything that make those recurring activities or themes specific to Nashville?
Globally, ULI engages members who are interested in advancing their work and making an impact on their communities. Spring Meeting attendees will see an emphasis on Nashville and Tennessee in six concurrent sessions designed by ULI Nashville. These sessions discuss Nashville’s secret economic sauce, how the public and private sectors are supporting the music industry, and Nashville’s leadership in increasing mobility. ULI Nashville members also designed sessions featuring leaders from across Tennessee discussing riverfront redevelopment and innovation in housing.
The tours created by ULI Nashville members feature dozens of local real estate leaders discussing their projects – what went well and what experience has taught them. ULI commits to creating opportunities for members to connect, inspire, and lead. At Spring Meeting, attendees connect throughout and with Nashville, will be inspired by Nashville’s growth, and take home lessons from Nashville’s experience and innovation.
- What are the key takeaways that attendees can expect?
Attendees engage with leaders in land use and commercial real estate on the topics that are most pressing in the industry – adapting to technological change, addressing climate risks, planning for demographic change, and weathering uncertain markets. Attendees learn the latest in development of various asset classes from the successes and trials of others.
All of this occurs this year in Nashville and highlights Nashville and Middle Tennessee’s growth, its challenges, and the opportunities before us.
5. Who can attend the ULI Spring Meeting, are there any tickets left, and if so, where do folks get access to purchase them?
Spring Meeting is open to ULI members and nonmembers. Tickets are available at https://spring.uli.org/pricing/
As bookends to Spring Meeting, Nashville will also host the following ULI events:
- Lewis Center Sustainability Forum on Monday, May 4 and the
- Resilience Summit on May 8.
Registrations to these events can be purchased as an “add on” to Spring Meeting or as standalone events.
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