2022 Spring Issue - 96

make sense for up-and-coming innovation districts-
especially those located in small to midsized cities
or those anchored by less prestigious institutions-
to simply replicate on a smaller scale what the
most elite universities are doing. That is a losing
proposition.
Instead of looking elsewhere, when leaders from
research institutions, businesses, and local governments
consider launching an innovation district, they
need to begin by identifying and flexing their local
strengths. This thinking should occur at many scales,
but it is especially important to consider placemaking
at the neighborhood scale.
Particularly, in terms of drawing talent from elsewhere-or,
depending on the city, stemming brain
drain-a successful innovation district needs to flex
the existing resources that make it unique. This might
involve investing in cultural amenities to elevate the
music or art scene of a neighborhood; investing in
parks so that incredible river views do not go unappreciated;
or investing in infrastructure to preserve
historic buildings.
It is not an innovation district, but in many
Part of an innovation
hub in Pittsburgh,
the Roundhouse at
Hazelwood Green
repurposes a piece of
the old J&L Steel Mill as
a coworking space for
technology accelerator
OneValley.
respects the work of the Cincinnati Center City Development
Corporation (3CDC) in the Over-the-Rhine
neighborhood offers an insightful model. 3CDC's work
has been celebrated nationally for " turning a neighborhood
that in 2009 topped Compton in Los Angeles
for the 'most dangerous' title into something that
looks and feels like Greenwich Village. " They did this
by making smart investments.
Restoring what was, at the time, a beautiful but
crumbling stock of buildings-the largest collection
of Italianate architecture of any neighborhood in
America-the organization preserved what made
the neighborhood unique. This was reinforced by
3CDC's taking a highly curatorial approach to its
role as a landlord. 3CDC frequently turned away
national chains. This made the job of filling out the
neighborhood with commercial and retail tenants
more difficult, but it also had the effect of turning the
neighborhood into a unique destination. This was
reinforced by investing in parks-new amenities and
programming now foster vibrant public spaces.
It is this kind of approach-this laser-focus on the
local opportunities by which they could differentiate
the neighborhood (paired with smart investments
and the right partnerships)-that account for 3CDC's
success in Over-the-Rhine. The neighborhood did
not have the same level of activity or resources as a
Greenwich Village, yet it regularly draws comparisons
with some of the most desirable neighborhoods in
the country.
Hazelwood Green owner Almono LP, which is
made up of three foundations-the Claude Worthington
Benedum Foundation, the Richard King Mellon
Foundation, and the Heinz Endowments-are effecting
a similar transformation in Pittsburgh. Transforming
a brownfield along the Monongahela River into
a center for innovation and a model of sustainable
development, they are repurposing the industrial
remains of the shuttered 178-acre (72 ha) J&L Steel
Mill to support the knowledge economy.
GBBN's design of the Roundhouse at Hazelwood
Green has turned a cavernous building that once
serviced and turned trains, redirecting their materials
through the production process, into an inspiring,
light-filled technology accelerator and coworking
space. Using a light touch to celebrate the rich
materials of the existing structure, the space forms
a bridge between Pittsburgh's industrial past and its
high-tech future.
Creating an inviting public space, native plants
and public art have been used to integrate the site's
industrial remains-its turntable, a shed's steel
frame-into the landscape while multimodal transit
connects the site to the surrounding neighborhood,
downtown, and beyond. A similar approach has been
taken with other pieces of this property, including Mill
19, which is now home to Carnegie Mellon University's
Manufacturing Futures Institute.
The point in all this is to be yourself. You cannot
out-Boston Boston, and you shouldn't be trying. If
you are contemplating developing an innovation
district in a small to medium-sized city, you would do
well to train your eye on identifying, investing in, and
developing the strengths that differentiate your neighborhood
from others. UL
CHAD BURKE is director of commercial and workplace at GBBN
and a member of ULI Cincinnati. ZACHARY ZETTLER is GBBN's
director of higher education.
96
URBAN LAND
SPRING 2022
ED MASSERY/GBBN
2022 Spring Issue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2022 Spring Issue
