Think Global, Focus Local
July 22, 2025 • As we continue to move through 2025, it is apparent that this year will be chock-full of volatility, uncertainty, opportunity, and challenges. Daunting and threatening, exciting and surprising. In order to consistently achieve high-performance leasing results that drive value and profitability despite this rocky terrain, staying ahead of global and national trends and collaborating across borders will be important.
Here are some examples of why Watch Item #8 Think Global, Focus Local earned its place on our 2025 Top Ten Watch List.
A Strategy for Continuous Improvement
As predicted in the Watch List, taking advantage of ULI, ICSC, and other real estate groups that bring far-flung members together is an important strategy for continuous improvement in portfolio performance.
In 2025, these groups helped us get ahead of national regulatory changes that could have crippled our industry. They’ve enabled me, and countless others, to see, touch, feel, and understand real estate projects in distant locations and to use that learning to improve our own projects, performance, and results.
And as a result of the light these groups shine on transformational leaders, their personal stories and accomplishments are a source of industry-wide inspiration and motivation.
Create Broad Coalitions That Transcend Borders
The impact of regulatory changes often transcends borders. Groups like ULI and ICSC create broad-based coalitions to shape those changes in ways that benefit the local communities we serve.
A great example of this was the ICSC-led response to proposed tax policy changes that were being considered for the recently enacted reconciliation act (also referred to as the big beautiful bill). In March, ICSC members from across the country gathered in Washington, D.C., to ensure that our congressional representatives understood the impact that those changes would have on their constituents.
We met with 141 congressional offices and sent them more than 1,500 follow-up emails. Our top priorities were ultimately achieved: Business SALT was not imposed, and both the 20% pass-through deduction and the lower long-term capital gains tax rate on carried interest were maintained. Link to our recent post for more information.
Denver: A Local Reflection of National Trends
In May, thousands of ULI members from across the globe came together in Denver for ULI’s Spring Meeting.
We toured real estate projects throughout the metro area, including the beautifully redeveloped Union Station, the newly created Riverfront Park neighborhood, and the vibrant retail of Cherry Creek. We also toured downtown Denver, which is currently characterized by low foot traffic, underutilized office towers, and vacant ground-floor retail.
These divergent realities are not unique to Denver. They are reflected across the U.S. and the globe. The owners, urban planners, attorneys, brokers, lenders, and architects who joined me at the ULI Denver meeting shared insights and ideas that could ignite positive change in Denver’s downtown. And as a result of these conversations, our contributions to ongoing projects were no doubt enhanced.
Two Women Who Transformed American Cities
In April, I attended ULI’s 2025 NY Awards for Excellence gala. The Visionary Leadership in Land Use award went to Mary Ann Tighe, a larger-than-life force in NYC real estate. Mary Ann transformed the NYC skyline, including Times Square, downtown Manhattan after 9/11, and west Midtown.
While in Denver, I learned about Dana Crawford, a pioneering real estate developer who saved many historic buildings throughout the city from demolition, including the iconic Union Station. She turned those buildings into beacons of adaptive reuse that transformed entire neighborhoods, and some would say, the city itself.
What Mary Ann and Dana had in common was an unwavering commitment to the city they loved, a vision for its future, and a dogged determination to forge ahead despite opposition. Their achievements and legacies will inspire real estate professionals for decades to come.
Looking Ahead
In October 2025, I will be taking the reins as Chair of ICSC’s Legal Advisory Council. The LAC consists of 16 distinguished attorneys from around the country who have been selected to offer advice and guidance to ICSC on critical issues facing the retail real estate industry. I am honored to have been selected to lead the LAC and look forward to continuing my long-standing commitment to contribute to ICSC and our global community.