Stu KingmaOn Wednesday November 9th, Stu Kingma was given the opportunity to present at the 25th Annual University of Michigan (UM) & Urban Land Institute (ULI) Real Estate Forum. The UM/ULI Real Estate Forum is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to enhancing real estate education both professionally and at the university level. For twenty-five years they have been celebrating best practices in Michigan real estate.  Professionals in real estate, development, and academia were all present at the forum. This year, the Forum’s focus was on identifying opportunities.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), along with the ULI published “Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2012” and ranked Detroit dead last among U.S. cities in terms of investment and development among other things.  Stu was part of a Local Response Panel and discussed recent opportunities in West Michigan.  Stu’s goal, along with the rest of the Forum, was to refute the claims of the PwC report. “Even though the PwC numbers show Detroit is lagging behind the rest of the country, great things are happening here,” Stu says. “I especially wanted to demonstrate that great things are happening in West Michigan as well. We are sustainable and growing in many sectors.”

Some of the topics Stu covered include the manufacturing rebound, the growing medical sector, food manufacturing, and the advanced battery production sector for vehicle use.