2022 Summer Issue - 19

thisissue
Water Always Wins
Urban Land's summer cover is a rendering of
Populus hotel in downtown Denver, developed by
Denver-based Urban Villages. Slated for completion in
late 2023, the 265-room hotel was selected to illustrate
our " Return to Travel " issue-first, for its striking aspen
tree-inspired design by architecture firm Studio Gang,
and second, because it is the first carbon-positive hotel
development in the United States.
As our " Outlook for Travel " article by Ron Nyren
(page 38) reveals, more travelers are beginning to
incorporate sustainability impacts into their plans.
Populus will be carbon positive, thanks to its sustainable
design and construction features and to a substantial
ecological effort off site. That effort will include
an initial commitment to planting trees that represent
more than 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of forest-offsetting
an embodied carbon footprint equivalent to nearly
500,000 gallons (1.9 million liters) of gasoline. Its ongoing
operations will also be carbon positive so that
every guest stay is offset in addition to the building's
embodied carbon.
According to the ULI report Sustainability in Hotels:
Opportunities and Trends Shaping the Future of Hospitality,
hotels consume more energy and water per
square foot than just about any other building type.
Therefore, design strategies that reduce energy
consumption and lower utility bills are increasingly
coming to the forefront. In our UL10 feature (page 29),
Nyren takes a fresh look at 10 greenly innovative hotels
that embrace energy efficiency and are environmentally
sensitive.
Climate change is also affecting travel to popular
coastal destinations as flooding events become more
common. In " European Waterfront Redevelopment "
(page 50), Berlin-based correspondent Bennett Voyles
writes that with a predicted sea-level rise of 3.28 feet
(1 m) or more by the end of the century and at least
10 times as many violent storms, " planners are taking
a more defensive approach to waterfront design in
the hope that they can deliver the appeal of urban life
near the water without putting lives at risk. " How planners
deal with water, however, has evolved in recent
decades-away from " trying always to buttress developments
against water to finding ways to live with it. "
Water, after all, always wins.
As hotel owners and investors shift to address climate
change and energy use, many properties that
previously catered to business travelers are in the process
of being reflagged as lifestyle-oriented brands that
appeal to leisure travelers.
Business travel will remain a question mark until
clarity emerges on return-to-office work plans. And,
of course, office vacancy rates remain well above prepandemic
levels.
Even so, bright signs are on the horizon, as Jan
Freitag, director of hospitality analytics for U.S. CoStar
Group and a member of the ULI Hotel Development
Council, writes in our Back Page column (page 96). He
notes that groups have returned to travel more quickly
than expected, with consumption of group rooms (sold
in increments of 10 or more) hitting 7.2 million in April
2022-only 1 million fewer rooms than the April 2019
level and " a clear indicator " of a return to corporate
spending on travel.
Older hotels, which were doubly affected by the
travel shutdown during the pandemic and an oversupply
of new hotel product, are being completely
converted to affordable housing, a trend discussed
in depth by writer Patricia Kirk in her piece " Hotel-toHousing
Conversions Proliferate " (page 43).
This issue also presents snapshots of ULI Global
Awards for Excellence regional finalists for the Americas,
Europe, and Asia Pacific regions (page 63). The
winners of the Global Awards for Excellence will be
announced at the Fall Meeting in Dallas, where thousands
are expected to travel to meet in person. UL
SUMMER 2022
URBAN LAND
19
When it comes on line
in late 2023, Populus,
developed by Denverbased
Urban Villages
and designed by
architecture firm Studio
Gang, will be the first
carbon-positive hotel
development in the
country.
STUDIO GANG
2022 Summer Issue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2022 Summer Issue
