Winter Issue 2022 - 20

develop
$17 Million in
Landmark
Contributions to
Launch ULI Chair's
Fund
Three Key Leaders
discuss their inaugural
contributions and why
ULI's mission Is more
important than ever.
Three longtime ULI members
and leaders have joined to
make $17 million in inaugural
contributions to the ULI Chair's
Fund. This new endowment
aims to give ULI the flexibility
to respond quickly to new
challenges in its mission, which
includes helping tackle
issues ranging from reducing
real estate's carbon footprint
to increasing the supply of
affordable housing.
Former ULI president and ULI
Foundation chair James D. Klingbeil
is donating $7 million through the
Klingbeil Family Foundation, and
past ULI global chair Thomas W.
Toomey and former ULI Foundation
chairman Douglas D. Abbey are
contributing $5 million each.
" These three significant gifts
from ULI member leaders further
solidify our financial foundation
and will help ensure that ULI can
implement its mission-Shape the
future of the built environment
for transformative impact in communities
worldwide-well into the
future, " said Ed Walter, ULI global
CEO.
The three participated in a
recent Zoom roundtable during
which they discussed how ULI has
Endowing the ULI Chair's Fund:
influenced their lives and careers.
Edited highlights of their conversation
follow.
How did you get started with
ULI, and how has it resonated
with you personally and
professionally?
KLINGBEIL: I became involved
back in the early 1960s. I was just
starting my career; I had no background
in real estate whatsoever.
I went to my first meeting in San
Juan, Puerto Rico. I was literally
blown away by the candor and the
information and advice. We took a
bus out to one of the Levitt developments
where I saw 300 houses
and every form of construction and
got to talk to [Liberty Property Trust
founder] Bill Rouse, Jim Rouse's
older brother. I was getting all
these insights from experienced
real estate developers. Just think
about a whiteboard with nothing
on it: that was my brain. Needless
to say, I went to the next meeting
in Dallas. There was no other
organization that had the information
and wanted to create a better
built environment. For me, it was a
life-changer; it was based upon the
quality of the people.
James D. Klingbeil,
founder and CEO emeritus of
Klingbeil Capital Management,
former ULI global chair and
former ULI Foundation chair.
Thomas W. Toomey,
chairman and CEO, UDR, and
former ULI global chair.
Douglas D. Abbey,
chairman of Swift Real Estate
Partners in San Francisco,
former vice chairman of ULI
and former chair of the ULI
Foundation.
TOOMEY: I started back in 1996.
I had been working on a redevelopment
project, and I gave a
presentation on it to a ULI product
council, where you have 50 people
taking a look at your ideas. They
certainly humbled me, but they
also challenged me. It was a vastly
more capable audience, but they
were there not just to judge but to
work with me. Then after I joined
18
URBAN LAND
WINTER 2022
Winter Issue 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Winter Issue 2022
