ULI Foundation

The ULI Foundation allows donors who contribute over $5 million to join the ULI’s chair fund’s advisory committee, granting them oversight of ULI’s budget and the ability to make recommendations to ULI’s board of directors. ⁴

Background

The ULI Foundation is a left-of-center nonprofit organization that advocates for urban planning policies in support of its sister organization, the Urban Land Institute. ¹ It was originally founded in 1950 as the J.C. Nichols Foundation to fund community development research by university students, and later changed its name to the Urban Land Research Foundation in 1970 before eventually changing its name to ULI Foundation. ⁵

In 1970, the ULI Foundation began fundraising activities by having its governors commit to contributing to the Foundation’s endowment to fund its activities. It reports that after 2000, the ULI Foundation’s funding began being used to fund ULI’s research on real estate markets and advocacy. ⁵

In 2007, the ULI Foundation reported that its endowment reached $1 million, and by 2011, it reported a “permanent endowment” of nearly $50 million, allocating $5.5 million of the endowment to “ULI’s content programming.” ⁵

In 2021, the ULI Foundation announced that it would begin advocating for ULI’s three priorities: advocating for the real estate industry to commit to eliminating net carbon emissions, education programs in partnership with colleges to incorporate ULI’s advocacy in their relevant courses, and for affordable housing programs. ^{1 6}

ULI Chair Fund

In 2021, the Urban Land Institute launched a program titled the ULI Chair Fund that raises funds to support ULI programs, allowing donors to oversee ULI’s budget and make recommendations to ULI’s board of directors. ULI’s magazine, Urban Land, reports that ULI Foundation donors who contribute $5 million or more are granted membership in the ULI Chair Fund’s advisory committee, granting them oversight of ULI’s budget and activities. ⁴

ULI Foundation donors who are listed amongst its Marcus Vitruvius Society, who are donors of $5 million or more and members of ULI Chair Fund’s advisory committee, include Douglas D. Abbey, James J. Curtis III, the Klingbeil Family Foundation, Gerald D. Hines, Randall W. Lewis, Geoffrey L. Stack on behalf of the Nancy and Geoffrey Stack Family Foundation, J. Ronald Terwilliger, and Thomas W. Toomey. ⁷ The listed donors and members of the advisory committee include executives and partners of commercial real estate companies. ⁸

Advisory Service Program

In December 2023, commercial real estate company the Continental Development Corporation’s executive vice president Alex J. Rose donated $1 million to help it found Urban Land Institute’s advisory services program, which Urban Land reports has a $7.5 million endowment. The program uses the funding to organize panels and ULI volunteers to advise localities on real estate regulations, subsidies, and urban planning, including the approval of new developments. ⁹

Advocacy

Environmental

The ULI Foundation advocates for the real estate industry to halve its carbon emissions by 2030 and reach “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050. ¹⁰ To achieve this, it has an Our Future Campaign that seeks to raise $100 million to fund its environmentalist initiatives. ¹¹

The ULI Foundation’s environmentalist initiatives include advocating for transitioning to environmentalist energy use, including publicly-funded weather-dependent energy credits. It also advocates for real estate developers to eliminate the use of traditional building materials for environmentalist alternatives and for lease agreements to require tenants to reduce energy use. ¹²

Education Programs

The ULI Foundation’s second advocacy priority is through its partnerships with colleges and communities where it provides education programs on real estate and urban development. ¹³

Housing

The ULI Foundation advocates for an increase in the development of lower-cost housing, including through the development of smaller homes, “simpler” homes, and campaigning to promote lifestyle changes among lower-income persons to be able to afford housing. It also advocates building higher-density housing and attempting to make housing affordable without needing public subsidies. ¹⁴

Leadership

Janice Periquet is the president of the ULI Foundation. Periquet previously worked as vice president of development for RepresentUs and worked in development for The Nature Conservancy and the North Carolina Humanities Council. ¹⁵

Financials

In 2023, the ULI Foundation reported $14.4 million in total revenue and $12.2 million in total expenses, including $10.4 million in grants paid. Of its grants paid, all but $60,435 was paid to the Urban Land Institute. ^{16 17}