Greetings from home!  Like most of you, I am squirreled away in my house attempting to balance work and family.  It’s been an incredibly strange time for all of us.  First and foremost, I wish you and your family good health.  The most important thing is ensuring we get through the COVID-19 pandemic and stay well enough to enjoy what comes next.  In the meantime, we are dealing with a bigger jolt to our way of life than we could have imagined….  from school closures to travel restrictions to toilet paper shortages!

The commercial real estate industry in the Washington region is shook, and for good reason.  From retail to hospitality to office to multifamily, from the sharing economy to digitization, it seems like no aspect of our industry will be untouched by the broad reaches of COVID-19.  The challenge is all the more significant when we don’t quite know what’s on the other side of our current reality.  Will we go back to “normal” and board crowded airplanes, attend sold-out sporting events and concerts, and eat at bustling restaurants?  And if so, WHEN?    Certainly there are more questions than answers.

While we are understandably focused on the immediate challenges ahead, there will also be opportunities that will present themselves over the coming weeks and months.  This down-time is an opportunity to be strategic – to think and to grow.  As our businesses evolve, surely there are aspects that will come out stronger than they are now.  As we innovate and adapt to these adjustments to our way of life, new technologies will be developed and new business opportunities revealed.  No matter where the next weeks and month take us, please know that ULI Washington will be here to connect, educate and support our members every step of the way. Stay well!

Jamie Weinbaum
Executive Vice President, Mid-City
Chair, ULI Washington.

In ULI Washington’s new Leadership Insights column, ULI Washington will regularly feature member leader’s thoughts and insights as we adjust personally and professional to a “new normal.”