Clewlow: “This is new material, new depth and new insights into major megaprojects across the country.”

DALLAS—I.CON: Impact Projects, NAIOP's industrial real estate conference set for April 5-6 here, assumes a case-study format that will reveal to attendees the many complexities that go into creating large-scale projects, Jim Clewlow, advisory committee chair for the conference, tells GlobeSt.com. We spoke exclusively with Clewlow, who is also EVP and chief investment officer for CenterPoint Properties in Oak Brook, IL, about what makes the conference unique and what attendees can expect from the new format.

GlobeSt.com: What do you feel is most compelling about this conference for potential attendees?

Clewlow: NAIOP has come up with a very innovative concept to do deep dives into these projects versus superficial discussion. This is new material, new depth and new insights into major megaprojects across the country. There's a wide variety—it's not just one theme. These are long-lead-item projects that may take up to 30 years to complete. So much of our business is fairly repetitive, particularly on the industrial side. These cases are more complex and examine all the different complexities and facets that come up in different projects like this, from environmental clean-up to demolition to rezoning and transition of uses.