About Us - U3 Advisors

At U3 Advisors, we believe the success and stability of anchor institutions are essential for a more equitable future.

U3 is a unique advisory practice built specifically to harness the power of people and place to drive meaningful impact on campuses, in neighborhoods, and across entire cities. By combining data, experience, and curiosity, we’ve successfully helped clients grow their footprint and capacity, transact complex real estate projects, and implement strategies that bring millions of dollars of investment into local economies. We believe that fostering local partnerships can have a wide-ranging impact, and we work with our clients every day to discover new opportunities for making places more livable, more inclusive, and more human.

With offices in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Los Angeles, U3 is working at the forefront of transformational placemaking and institutional best practices. Our leadership team comprises national experts in six essential Practice Areas—from urban planning to community development—all of whom have extensive experience working with and within anchor institutions. We know these places better than anyone and how to get things done to make real change.

For more than 20 years, we’ve been working toward a more equitable future. Together with our incredible clients and partners, we really are changing the world — one block, one community, one city at a time.

Our Work

Projects

01
02
03
04

Kresge & Hudson Webber Foundations

Incubating the Transformation of Midtown Detroit

Princeton University

Planning for the Future while Respecting the Past

Drexel University

Turning Ambition into Action

University of Toronto

Four Corners, One Cohesive Vision

Our diverse team of multi-disciplinary practitioners offers unique expertise in the power of people and place.

U3 brings together professionals with extensive experience in design and urban planning, real estate development, data analytics, higher education and nonprofit leadership, and more.

Our Team

Maplewood Housing | Cornell University | Image courtesy of Greystar

Manhattanville Forum | Columbia University

Marygrove Conservancy I Image Courtesy of Kresge Foundation

Memphis Medical District Employee Residential Analysis

U3 specializes in working with academic institutions, non-profits, healthcare systems, and mission-driven organizations of all sizes.

Clients

Our Values

Doing the Right Thing for Better Reasons

Our clients’ success is everyone’s success. Our strategic work, driven by our values, has the power to advance an institution’s mission while enabling more prosperous and equitable communities. We believe in the transformative power of anchor institutions, local investment and local partnerships to produce broad economic effects that can uplift entire cities.

Empathy

Strong neighborhoods and vibrant communities encourage people to consider the world from a perspective other than their own, creating new opportunities for cultural and economic growth.

Inclusivity

Everyone should have equal opportunity to enjoy public spaces and places. Diverse, accessible, and sustainable neighborhoods are essential for a healthy city.

Equality

Institutions of higher learning play a critical role in fostering acceptance and opportunity. Environments built to support education can create lasting social change.

Responsibility

Data is foundational and essential to our work. We also balance our evidence-based approach to problem-solving with a human touch and an understanding of how people live and communities thrive.

Diversity

A culturally and professionally diverse workforce helps us build effective coalitions, find unexpected opportunities, and develop innovative strategies.

Sustainability

The urgent environmental and economic threats posed by climate change require swift action and disciplined leadership. U3 Advisors is committed to working alongside its clients and partners to confront these existential threats and find renewed opportunities for growth, change, and sustainable development.

We’re committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion.

U3’s values of empathy, inclusivity, equality, responsibility, and diversity drive our strategic work and form the foundation for our interpretation of diversity and inclusion in our workplace and beyond.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

Careers

Join the Team