When some of the biggest stars in South Florida commercial real estate gather, it's not the economy, nor the numerous cranes on the skyline, nor even interest rates and the Federal Reserve that are on everyone's lips. It's Uber.

We spoke with ULI's Dr. Charles Bohl fresh from his organization's 2016 Florida Summit at the Turnberry Isle Resort, where he tells us everyone was talking about “creative disruption” within the CRE industry. Among the speakers were the University of Toronto's Dr. Richard Florida (here)—a renowned expert on urbanism—and MIT Media Lab City Science Initiative's Kent Larson, who especially highlighted the potential impact for autonomous vehicles on cities.

“The technology has been there for awhile. It's the implementation on an urban scale...that's going to be the big leap,” Charles says. The real potential for autonomous vehicles is in congestion—the ability to reduce it greatly in cities, as well as using a mode of transportation that is not a slave to a particular path, such as rail.

Charles says an internal ULI poll of attendees highlighted Uber as having the biggest impact on commercial real estate today. Its flexibility has been changing the way city residents are moving about. “I'll send my daughter to school sometimes on Uber,” he says. “It's almost like another alternative for transit.”

Other discussed disruptions include the potential for Airbnb to expand into the shared office sector, and how pop-up stores in the retail sector have become more polished and refined, even though they're often temporary.