2023 Summer Issue of Urban Land - 33

INSIDE THE ULI FOUNDATION
Joseph Azrack and Dan Cashdan
Donate Nearly $1 Million to ULI's Net
Zero Imperative
RON NYREN
Joseph AzrAck, principal of Azrack
& Company, and his wife Abigail
Congdon, along with Dan Cashdan,
president of Jones Lang LaSalle
Securities, and his wife Allisyn Cashdan,
have donated a combined
$500,000 to the ULI Foundation's
first capital campaign, Our Cities,
Our Future, in support of the Net
Zero Imperative (NZI), ULI's multiyear
initiative to accelerate decarbonization
of the built environment.
For both families, this is their second
gift to NZI, making their combined
giving impact nearly $1 million.
" The Net Zero Imperative is a
global initiative that unites the public
and private sectors to address local
net zero challenges related to real
estate, land use, and development, "
says Marta Schantz, co-executive
director of the ULI Randall Lewis
Center for Sustainability in Real
Estate, which administers NZI
through ULI's Greenprint Center for
Building Performance. The initiative
convenes Advisory Services panels
and technical assistance panels
(TAPs) to help building owners and
their local governments implement
decarbonization strategies for the
built environment.
" The ULI Lewis Center for Sustainability
has a tremendous team, a tremendous
board, and a tremendous
staff, " says Cashdan, a ULI trustee
and past chairman of the ULI Lewis
Center for Sustainability. " So when I
heard that people like Owen Thomas
and Lynn Thurber and Joe Azrack
were putting money together for the
NZI, my wife Allisyn and I thought
this was the place we would contribute,
too. ULI is uniquely positioned
in terms of climate change and the
pathway to net zero in our buildings;
there's probably no organization
better equipped on a global basis
to interact with owners, developers,
and investors. "
Azrack says he has long had an
interest in conservation and real
estate in the built environment.
Serving as co-chair of the ULI panel
convened in the wake of Hurricane
Sandy in 2013 further raised his
awareness. " The impacts of climate
change have become increasingly
evident, including unprecedented
extreme weather events globally that
impact migration and refugee crises, "
he says. " [ULI] can not only educate
its members, but also demonstrate
'proof of concept' for improving the
energy efficiency of property development
and operations with clean
energy solutions that can be profitable
for owners and investors and
good for society at large. "
NZI allows the real estate community
to demonstrate leadership and
take action at the local level, Schantz
says. The second NZI cohort, which
includes individuals from cities such
as Atlanta, Berlin, Hong Kong, and
Monterrey, Mexico, is currently concluding
its work.
" The program has encompassed a
diverse range of topics, projects, and
stakeholders, tailored to the needs
of each locality, " Schantz says. In Los
Angeles, the focus was on evaluating
a district energy system and involving
the private sector in its optimization
for an efficient net zero future.
In Minneapolis, the focus was how
to transform a brownfield transitoriented
development area into a net
Joseph Azrack (left), principal of Azrack
& Company, and Dan Cashdan, president
of Jones Lang LaSalle Securities.
zero district. " These endeavors are
strongly rooted in equity, ensuring
that everyone benefits and collaborates
toward achieving net zero. "
The program enables participants
to share recommendations with
each other. Staff members at the
ULI Lewis Center for Sustainability
also distill takeaways from the participants'
experiences to produce
reports available to the real estate
sector across the globe.
Increasing NZI's funding allows the
program to reach more cities, as well
as to engage long term with participants
for implementation. It also
enables local teams to execute fully
funded TAPs to avoid value engineering.
" This year we increased the
grant amount for each team from
$25,000 to $35,000, because we
recognize that the costs of a TAP as
well as the ongoing implementation
have gone up because of inflation, "
Schantz says.
Applications for NZI's third cohort
are open through July 31. UL
RON NYREN is a freelance architecture, urban planning,
and real estate writer based in the San Francisco Bay area.
SUMMER 2023
URBAN LAND
33
ULI FOUNDATION
ULI
2023 Summer Issue of Urban Land

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