The Urban Land Institute is in the middle of its fall conference, which happens to be set this year in Chicago. That’s an honor and an event: The fall conference hasn’t been held in the city since 2000.
Officials with the Urban Land Institute expect this year’s conference, held Nov. 5 through 8 at the McCormick Place convention center, to attract more than 7,000 attendees. Chicago real estate legend Sam Zell, chairman of Equity Group Investments, will be one of the keynote speakers during the event.
Teri Frankiewicz, vice president at Crown Community Development, is serving as one of the charis of the event’s Local Arrangements Committee. Frankiewicz pointed out that Chicago and the Urban Land Institute have always been connected: After all, the institute was founded in Chicago in 1936.
“So there is a sense of coming home,” Frankiewicz said.
Many of the conference’s seminars focus on Chicago and its future.
The conference officially kicked off yesterday, though Tuesday’s events focused mainly on city tours and committee member meetings. Today is the real start to the conference for many. Dan Pelino, general manager for the global public sector for IBM, will start the conference at 8 a.m. with his keynote talk, “The Future is Not What It Used to Be.”
