On Friday July 24th Peter Orser, Director of the Center, was asked to make the keynote presentation to the ULI young leaders group. This energetic collection of emerging real estate professional gathered from Vancouver BC, Portland and Seattle to discuss “the Dynamics of a Rapidly Growing City” – a topic with many subtopics providing fodder for several panels and tours throughout the two day event. Peter touched on many topics from Growth Management to the whys and wherefores of Weyerhaeuser’s move to Pioneer Square. To stir the conversation just a bit, Peter made a few not so bold but startling predictions- such as “there is no question in my mind that the median price of a single family home in King County will exceed $650,000 in less than 5 years”–or—“While we hear a lot about density and an apartment construction boom, regionally we are still a culture that believes in an American Dream that is defined by single family home ownership, so our homeownership rate will not fall below 62%-regardless of the current short term trends we are seeing today.” The panel following, which included Peter and several other dignitaries who had participated in the Mayor’s task force on Affordable housing, continued the discussion with an energy and passion commensurate to the importance of the topic! Kudos to ULI-YLG on a fantastic event.
