2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land - 24

developments
by leveraging community
assets is essential in moving
resilience projects forward.
Gaining buy-in begins with
acknowledging the current
and historical context of a
place to build trust. Workshop
attendees from the ReConnect
Rondo effort in Saint Paul are
advancing plans to revitalize
the Rondo neighborhood,
which was split by Interstate
94 in the 1950s and 60s, displacing
one in seven people
who made up St. Paul's Black
population. The neighborhood
was also subject to redlining.
Goals of the Rondo effort
include establishing an African
American cultural enterprise
district that creates resilience
and redevelopment by reconnecting
the neighborhood and
embracing water as an asset-
including by investing in green
Huizenga Park Reimagined
will soon begin construction
in the heart of Downtown
Fort Lauderdale.
stormwater infrastructure and
" green streets. "
Della Schall Young, founder
and CEO at Young Environmental
Consulting Group and
a leader in the ReConnect
Rondo effort, notes that
understanding Rondo's history
and focusing on building
strong relationships through
community events is key to
advancing buy-in. " We build
trust by connecting at the
table. There's music, storytelling,
and food. Community
members get to know you
because you're in the community, "
Young said.
ULI's report Ten Principles
for Embedding Racial Equity in
Real Estate provides best practices
on translating motivation
to work on racial equity into
action.
In Fort Lauderdale, the
Downtown Development
Authority (DDA) is leading
the effort to renovate Huizenga
Park, the city's signature
gathering space. Developing a
new vision for the park was a
major component of ULI's 2019
Downtown Fort Lauderdale
Advisory Services panel, which
highlighted opportunities for a
more resilient water management
strategy, heat mitigation
elements, and increased social
cohesion.
ULI's recommendations
became the guiding principles
supporting the DDA's vision
to reimagine Huizenga Park,
which will include a series of
" outdoor rooms " connecting
the nearby Las Olas Boulevard
to the New River.
Jenni Morejon, president and
CEO of the DDA stressed that
there are significant opportunities
and challenges associated
with investing in a downtown
park. " With a downtown park,
we have the chance to create
more societal connections
by making this space usable
365 days of the year, not
just during big events. We're
creating 'everyone's park, for
everyone's downtown,' " Morejon
says. " Navigating multiple
stakeholders requires creating
true partnerships of confidence,
chemistry, and capacity.
ULI's technical assistance work
is indispensable in building
such partnerships. "
" You can never 'overengage'
with stakeholders and
the public, and unless all key
stakeholders participate, you'll
get a fractured vision, " Morejon
notes. " Involving everyone
throughout the process will
lead to a better project and is
also an important component
of securing funding. "
The $15 million in funding
to reimagine the park is an
example of a public/private/
philanthropic partnership,
with one-third of the funding
coming from the public sector,
one-third from the private
sector, and one-third from
private donors. Support from
public sector partners, including
the city of Fort Lauderdale
and the state of Florida, will
ensure that Huizenga Park
remains a park in perpetuity. A
formal groundbreaking is set
for May 2024. UL
MATT NORRIS is a senior director with the
ULI Building Healthy Places Initiative.
24
URBAN LAND
SUMMER 2 024
F OR T L A UDERD ALE DO WNT O WN DEVEL OPMENT A UTHORIT Y
2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land
