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Mark Winkleman - Observations & Opportunities One Year Later
With the Covid numbers in decline and the safety of vaccinations, I have found myself having more in person meetings of late.
Observations:
What a year this has been! Who would ever have thought we’d experience all that has happened over the past 12 months? Public health issues, mental health issues, political turmoil, a long overdue focus on diversity, equity and inclusion – we’re deep in the middle of some heavy stuff! Through it all, we are learning and growing.
We are learning to be patient with ourselves and others. Many of our colleagues, partners and friends are struggling to balance increasingly heavy workloads and wayyyyy more time with their spouses, partners and kids than they are used to. For those of us with Amazon addictions who have become accustomed to getting everything yesterday, it can be a challenge waiting until after school drop-off to respond to all those emails and knowing that other people we are waiting on are also waiting for their school drop-offs to respond to us. And it can be a challenge to take time for ourselves when so many people are depending on us. We have to cut ourselves some slack and do the same for those we work with.
We are learning to be resourceful. As real estate owners, developers, investors and managers react to the post-pandemic world, we are seeing some incredible adaptations – ski gondolas repurposed into individual dining cabins to support social distancing mandates, hotels redeveloped into small office spaces to create alternate work options for those who can’t yet return to the office but also can’t stand working from home, sit-down restaurants reconfiguring their space plans and adding pick-up windows to provide carry-out opportunities to stay afloat. I have no doubt we will continue to benefit from this creativity and look forward to seeing what’s next.
We are learning how lucky we are to live where we live. How awesome is Arizona right now? The weather is beautiful, we can be OUTSIDE, we are absolutely crushing the vaccine roll-out and we have had a pretty easy time of it compared to many other states (talking to you, California). Arizona was already at the top of the in-migration list, and the pandemic has taken us to a whole new level. Things look good for us real estate nerds.
Opportunities:
I consider myself one of the lucky ones. My family is healthy, my kids have been back in school for almost six months, my husband and I are busier than ever at work, and I’m white. Although I am still learning to adapt to a remote work lifestyle that involves a lot of other (sometimes loud and needy) people in my space, I really have no business complaining about my experiences over the past year when I see what so many others are facing.
I am energized to see ULI leading the way with new opportunities to support our members, and it makes me extremely proud to be part of this organization. We rolled out a new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee last year, and Sara Yehia and her team have so many great ideas we can all benefit from. We are getting ready to launch some new Local Product Councils based on member feedback, and we are about to have our first ever virtual Trends Days program. It’s been a tough year for many, but we have lots of exciting things on the horizon!
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