Brooklyn's Progress
June/July 2006

BY ELISE BLAKE

Seventeen students currently studying Real Estate Management, at the University of Nuertingen-Geislingen, Germany, and their two professors toured Downtown Brooklyn and DUMBO on Apr. 26.  The visitors are student members of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) – Europe.  The Urban Land Institute’s mission is to provide responsible leadership in the use of land to enhance the total environment.

Mack Tham, Director, Real Estate and Development at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and John Parkinson, Executive Director, ULI – New York orchestrated a two-part Real Estate and Development Tour for the students led by Michael Burke, Director, Downtown Brooklyn Council and Richard Mauro, Principal Dexter-Haven Realty Services.

Mr. Burke took the group on a leisurely and informative one-hour walking tour, including a detailed description of the areas changing urban landscape; all the while encouraging students to return within the next couple of years to witness Downtown Brooklyn’s metamorphosis. 

"We were proud to organize a tour to the two neighborhoods with the most active new projects," said Mr. Tham.  "After their tour, the students had a better appreciation of the development process and the challenges of revitalizing a neighborhood."

Students were treated to a picnic lunch from Front Street Pizzeria at Brooklyn Bridge Park.  As the students enjoyed their pizza and a view of Manhattan skyline, Mr. Mauro, a resident of the neighborhood for more than 35 years, traced the history of DUMBO, how the area’s name was created, and gave a synopsis of the changes taking place in the neighborhood. Some of Mr. Mauro’s neighbors gave the group short tours through their spaces (restaurants, manufacturers and residential landlords) and shared the creative ideas they had planned for their building.  Students had the chance to talk with DUMBO residents and business owners and ask questions.

The visiting students capped off their day with a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.
 
ULI – New York is a new Member of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. ULI’s UrbanPlan program is up and running in 20 classrooms in four schools the High School of Telecommunications and Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Technical and Murray Bergtraum High Schools.

The Brooklyn Chamber’s Mack Tham is a volunteer with the ULI - UrbanPlan program, which has approximately 650 participating students.  After completing the 15 session program, all of the students will go before a ULI member "City Council" to present their plans. 

If you are interested in volunteering your time as ULI UrbanPlan facilitators or judges, please contact Mack Tham, Director Real Estate and Development, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce at 718-875-1000 ext. 142.