JPMorganChase Awards ULI Foundation $500,000 Grant to Advance Housing Supply Solutions

WASHINGTON – RealEstateRama – The Urban Land Institute (ULI) Foundation has been awarded a $500,000 grant from JPMorganChase to support a new initiative aimed at identifying and evaluating policy recommendations that can increase housing production in Chicago and San Francisco, two cities facing significant housing affordability and supply challenges.

ULI, Terner Labs, and local academic partners will convene practitioners to identify practical policy changes that can reduce barriers to housing development and support the production of more homes.

“Many communities need practical, evidence-based recommendations to reduce friction around creating more housing supply,” said Michelle Herrick, head of commercial real estate, JPMorganChase. “We’re proud to support ULI’s market-specific work in Chicago and San Francisco.”

Communities across the country continue to face rising housing costs and persistent housing shortages. Guided by advisory groups of ULI members in each city, the initiative will identify the most significant barriers to housing production that can be addressed through public policy and prioritize reforms for analysis. The focus will be on policies that can reduce development costs, make housing development feasible on sites where residential construction is currently impractical, and increase the number of homes that can be built on already developable parcels.

Academic partners will then use their understanding of local housing market conditions, along with outputs from the Housing Policy Simulator developed by Terner Labs, to evaluate the potential impact of selected policy changes on development costs and the housing supply. The resulting analyses will provide city leaders with credible, market-specific insights to inform future housing policy decisions.

“One of the most exciting aspects of this work is its potential to serve as a blueprint for other communities,” said Aimee Witteman, chief impact officer at ULI. “By pairing the expertise of local real estate leaders with rigorous academic analysis, we and our partners are testing a repeatable model that communities across the country can use to evaluate policy options and advance housing solutions tailored to their local markets.”

In San Francisco, ULI San Francisco and Terner Labs will partner with the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley, leveraging an existing version of the Simulator to assess proposed policy reforms. In Chicago, ULI Chicago and Terner Labs will partner with the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University. Terner Labs will develop a Chicago-specific iteration of the Simulator tailored to local market conditions, creating a resource that can support both this initiative and future housing policy analysis in the city.

“ULI Chicago is proud to be a partner alongside the Terner Center and Terner Labs, as well as the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University, in this work,” said Cindy McSherry, executive director of ULI Chicago. “Together, with the expertise of our local ULI members and partner organizations, we have an opportunity to provide both insight and actionable steps forward to help address housing challenges across the region.”

“ULI San Francisco is excited to be part of this collaborative effort to identify practical, data-driven policy solutions that help unlock housing production,” said Natalie Sandoval, executive director of ULI San Francisco. “By uniting the expertise of ULI members with the research and analytical capabilities of the Terner Center and Terner Labs, we create an opportunity to turn local intellect into meaningful action.”

Findings from the initiative will be shared through city-specific research reports, policy briefs, and public forums. For more information, contact ">.

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About the Urban Land Institute:

The Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has more than 45,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. For more information on ULI, please visit uli.org or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.