This tour highlights key projects that have grown alongside the park, showcasing how mixed-use, residential, and commercial investments are shaping a vibrant and connected downtown. Participants will hear directly from local leaders and developers about how Raleigh’s commitment to historic preservation, design excellence, and creative placemaking continues to drive sustainable growth.

Downtown Cary Park, the result of more than two decades of visionary planning, spans seven acres in the heart of Cary and is home to the nation’s #1 public playground. The park’s creation helped spark a wave of downtown development, as public investment and thoughtful design attracted private partners who recognized the area’s potential.

Join fellow real estate and land use leaders for an afternoon of friendly competition and networking. Participate in a fast-paced, interactive Lightning Round to experience one of ULI’s key impact programs. Lunch is included.

This hands-on training:

• Puts participants in the role of a developer

• Offers a fresh perspective on the economic and political factors shaping land use decisions

• Gives local officials and community leaders valuable skills in negotiation, collaboration and understanding public/private partnerships

Seats are limited, so register today to reserve your spot! This program is supported through a grant from Pappas Properties

This tour will take you from the newly opened RUS BUS Station in Downtown Raleigh to the Wake Med Hospital Campus. Along the way, you'll see how New Bern Avenue is changing as the state's first Bus Rapid Transit line begins construction. More density, more people, more housing and more amenities are planned. Join us to learn more about the transformation that is about to take place.

Join us as we kick off the Carolinas Meeting! Whether you're just checking in or gearing up for the opening session, take this opportunity to grab a snack, enjoy a cup of coffee, and connect with fellow attendees. This casual meet-and-greet sets the tone for the engaging discussions and networking ahead. Let’s come together and start building meaningful connections for an impactful event.

As the Carolinas continue to experience dynamic growth and demographic shifts, what does the future hold for real estate across the region? This opening session brings together visionary leaders to explore the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping our built environment. From emerging technologies and sustainability imperatives to economic development and community resilience, our panelists will share insights on how public and private sectors can collaborate to create thriving places.

A pragmatic, place-led approach rooted in the Building Small toolkit shows how small-scale, incremental projects can unlock variety, gentle density, and local economic strength—without sacrificing design quality. Through case studies and actionable steps, learn how to align zoning, capital, and partnerships to remove barriers and build trust. Whether revitalizing main streets, adding infill housing, or reusing existing assets, this session equips you to move from idea to implementation and measure success by outcomes, not outputs.

Contemporary wood-fired cooking featuring Southern ingredients from 2014 James Beard Award-winning chef Ashley Christensen.

Raleigh boasts a thriving culinary scene, offering diverse options from classic Southern comfort food to innovative fine dining experiences. The Dine Together event will offer a small group experience to cultivate meaningful connections. We encourage participants to meet to walk to the restaurant at 6:30pm and dinner is at 7:00pm. This separately ticketed event is open to all Carolinas Meeting attendees. Limited space for each dinner is available. Attendees must select ONE restaurant to enjoy.

Please note: No refunds will be provided for cancellations made after 12:00 pm eastern on March 16th.

View Participating Restaurants

Join all the ULI Network Groups, including the Women’s Leadership Initiative, Young Leaders Group (under 35) and NEXT (35-50 age) from across the Carolinas for a joint happy hour meetup. Drinks are on your own.

A group of attendees are gathering for a casual 3-mile jog around town. RSVP to [email protected]. Meet up in the lobby of the Raleigh Marriott City Center located at 500 Fayetteville St.

Everyone loves the excitement of new technology, until it is time to use it. Adoption is hard, especially in the complex and relationship driven world of real estate. Join leading real estate technology companies and industry practitioners as we explore proven strategies to move beyond the buzz and build lasting habits that drive measurable impact across development, operations, and investment. This session dives into practical adoption approaches, organizational culture shifts, and real world success stories that show the real estate tech revolution is not coming, it is already underway.

Join us for a fast-moving conversation on the new playbook for housing delivery. This panel spotlights breakthrough approaches—next-gen P3s, modern construction methods, and inventive financing structures—that are reshaping how mixed-income and workforce communities get built. Through real-world case studies and bold partnership models, we’ll explore how cities, developers, and capital providers are cutting through outdated processes, aligning incentives, and delivering complete communities with a diverse mix of housing types, stronger infrastructure, and greater long-term resilience.

We will explore how communities can leverage data to enhance quality of life and drive prosperity. Leaders face an overwhelming flow of information and turning it into actionable insights is key. We’ll outline a framework for measuring community dynamics and show how data-driven decisions influence transportation, wellness, housing, and mixed-use development. Hear practical strategies to align infrastructure, lifestyle, and economic growth with community needs.

During the closing lunch, this fast-paced program is a great way to learn about innovative and exciting new projects under construction within North and South Carolina. Six developments will present in 6.5 minute sprint per project, sharing mini-case studies about their development including lessons learned, photos, site and floor plans, development timeline, in addition to site, building and financial data.