2023 Fall Issue of Urban Land - 32

INSIDE THE ULI FOUNDATION
$1 Million Gift from Alex Rose Helps
Create Endowment to Increase Reach of
ULI Advisory Services Program
RON NYREN
A $1 million gift from Alex J. Rose,
executive vice president for Continental
Development Corporation, will
help the ULI Foundation establish a
$7.5 million endowment to provide
long-term funding for its advisory
services program, which assembles
panels of volunteer ULI members to
provide expert advice and recommendations
to communities facing
land use challenges.
Rose, a ULI Trustee and a member
of the ULI Foundation's Charles
Fraser Society and James J. Curtis
Society for Planned Giving, has
chaired or served on more than 40
advisory services panels over the
past 25 years. " I caught the bug
in 1997, when I participated on a
panel in Grand Forks, North Dakota,
advising on a strategy for rebuilding
the city's historic downtown in
the aftermath of a 500-year flood, "
Rose says. " I was so taken by the
work with the people . . . in the community,
as well as with our members
and our staff, that I've never
stopped. I don't think anything else
we do is more on point with executing
ULI's mission. "
Kelsey Steffen, vice president of
advisory services, says, " ULI has
been preparing to reposition the
advisory services program, focusing
on ULI's mission and delivering
it to communities worldwide. "
That includes working on better
integration with the District Council
network, where most of members
engage with ULI.
Gifts to the Foundation have been
making a significant impact to the
advisory services program for years.
" Our top clients are often local governments
with limited funds, " Steffen
says. " While the program doesn't
32
URBAN LAND FALL 2023
generate profit, it requires significant
resources. This is ULI's chance to be
supportive of cities and communities
nationwide, acting as a friend
and partner, offering access to our
thought leaders and members to
help navigate the changing economic
landscape. "
" The Foundation is grateful for
Alex's generous contribution and,
equally as
important, his leadership, " says Faron
A. Hill, chair of the ULI Foundation
and a Fort Wayne Advisory Services
panelist. " Alex is an industry leader
who understands the importance of
the advisory services program and
its rich history as one of ULI's signature
programs. Advisory Services
panels have allowed ULI and its
members to offer impactful solutions
to the challenges facing our cities
around the country for more than 75
years. " He points to the recent panel
for the Electric Works redevelopment
project in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The majority of the panel was
funded by the ULI Foundation. The
panelists advised the city on how
the redevelopment could create jobs,
attract investment, and expand the
tax base, but also serve as a national
model for including underrepresented
businesses and communities,
as well as advancing diversity, equity,
and inclusion.
" This is a great example of how
ULI's members continue to step up
to the plate, " Hill says.
Rose says he had two primary
objectives in making the gift: " First, I
felt it was important that the Foundation
build an endowment to financially
support communities in need
of advisory services and expertise,
so that that price alone doesn't preAlex
J. Rose,
executive vice president,
Continental Development Corporation
vent them from receiving the benefits
that ULI member experience and
expertise are able to bring through
the advisory services platforms.
" My second objective was to
ensure that our great and impactful
work does not stop at the delivery
of a report, " Rose says.
His gift, he explains, is intended to
provide resources to ULI in general
and to District Councils in particular,
enabling the program to share content
from each engagement across
the Institute; secure additional advisory
engagements at local, regional,
and national levels; create greater
member engagement and value; provide
the basis for additional foundation
and other philanthropic support
of ULI's mission; and expand and further
diversify ULI's membership.
" We can move the advisory services
program from focusing on the
delivery of a product to enhancing
ULI's execution of its mission and
create more value for members, " he
adds. " I hope this gift will motivate
others to contribute, as well, making
the initiative self-supporting and
expanding its reach. " UL
RON NYREN is a freelance architecture and real estate
writer based in the San Francisco Bay area.
2023 Fall Issue of Urban Land

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