In celebration of the company's 40th anniversary, RCLCO invited 100 national real estate business leaders to join with leading futurists and market analysts to spend a day thinking about how the real estate business is likely to evolve in the future. This invitational gathering, "The Best Minds in Real Estate," was held on September 25, 2007 in Washington. Inspired by the ideas presented by the world-renown thought leaders Sir receivers. The building industry, which still relies on centuries-old construction methods, must implement new technologies to control escalating costs.

Geography has been rendered less important by technology, yet has great importance at the human level. People in advanced societies are free to live wherever they want, yet many choose to remain in the areas that they consider "home." The real estate industry can no longer provide "generic" housing and design. Communities that have authentic local flavor and cultural context will be the most successful.

Branding and marketing have evolved from one-way communication -- business sending messages to consumers -- to an increasingly interactive experience. People want to be involved in creating the products they buy. Developers could adapt to this trend by giving customers more options to customize their homes, communities, and commercial buildings.

Financing structures must change to recognize that successful communities take a long time to develop.

Housing affordability can only be addressed by increased density and technological advancements to reduce costs, yet most Americans continue to desire single-family homes with yards. Builders and developers must find lower-cost ways to meet such aspirations with higher density housing located in livable communities.

Energy and the environment raise issues with no easy answers. More and more energy will be needed to power future economies and technologies, yet very little progress has been made toward development of alternate energy sources. Since the built environment accounts for over 70 percent of carbon dioxide emissions, the industry must be a major player in proposed
environmental solutions. The residential building industry has lagged in adopting "green" building practices because consumer's wont pay the incremental cost -- but the industry should do more to lead the way.

NIMBYism continues to stymie the development of denser mixed-use communities. To help individuals overcome fear of change, developers need to "open up the conversation" by seeking input from a wide range of people. The increased cost of providing opportunities for people to "cocreate" their communities could be recouped by gaining local residents' buy-in for higher density. The real estate business must apply creativity and collaboration to devise solutions to NIMBYism and other challenging problems.