2024 Fall Issue of Urban Land - 23

MENTS
have a brand that everyone
can articulate. It is authentic
to the city and resonates with
residents and visitors alike.
Nashville is Music City and
Austin is still weird. This type
of visioning and branding is
often best achieved under the
leadership of a centralized
organization, such as a community
improvement district
(CID), community development
district (CDD), or other
downtown-focused body. It
can become the driving force
behind marketing and branding
efforts that point to the
vision, activities, and programming
that bring people to
downtown.
Report: Near-term efforts
could include shareable marketing
strategies, targeted programming,
and increasing retail
density with experiential and
anchor retailers. (Detroit)
It takes (an) organization
In addition to the visioning
and branding work, a CDD or
CID can serve as the central
point of contact for all things
related to downtown-events,
business, development, and
residential life. It becomes clear
who to turn to with questions
or ideas about downtown. It
also becomes clear who can
lead efforts when change is in
order.
Report: A centralized and
highly transparent system of
access makes it easier for a
diverse public to navigate the
business and cultural opportunities,
further supporting
community wealth building,
equitable economic development,
and community resilience.
(St. Louis)
A central downtown organization
can also play a key role
in the real estate landscape.
With the power to purchase
buildings and assemble land,
downtown organizations can
identify a building's becoming
a problem before the market
recognizes the issue. They
may also better understand
the types of land or building
assembly needs that businesses
may have as they look
to locate downtown-and
can make moves to help with
those efforts.
" A big piece is leadership:
organizations that exist to support
and focus on downtown
and are well positioned both
to advocate for downtown
as a policy priority and to
implement those policies. This
requires distinct capacities
that not every central business
district has. " -Kate Collignon,
managing partner, HR&A, ULI
ASP panelist in San Francisco,
St. Louis, and Sacramento
In one study in particular,
the ULI panel recommended
that the downtown entity use
its purchasing power, or the
power of its booster relationships,
to identify buildings that
could prove pivotal to success
and move on them now. The
goal would be to put an otherwise
empty building back into
circulation by inviting creatives
and makers from other parts
of the city to occupy the new
downtown spaces instead.
Furthermore, the equity
and ownership structure of
the building would be built
in a manner that provides an
equity stake for these new tenants,
allowing them to benefit
in the increase in the value
of the real estate asset. This
approach could be of particular
interest for downtowns
seeking an infusion of business
owners, creatives, and makers
who are Black, Indigenous, or
people of color.
Report: Public-private partnerships
are needed to spur
redevelopment, and, with more
office buildings soon entering
the market, now is the
time to get creative and align
resources in order to facilitate
more vacant building conversions.
(Detroit)
What is this place?
If downtown is no longer the
city's central business district,
what is it? Redefining downtown
through bold visioning
should be supported by
placemaking. It should be creative-inviting
art, experience,
and even whimsy into spaces.
People should see, feel, and
explore spaces in ways they
might not have done when
downtown was full of office
workers.
Report: Designing and curating
spaces for enjoyment by
the widest range of visitors
and residents are important.
Diversity of space can lead to
diversity of visitors, helping all
see that they are not only welcome
but are also encouraged
to enjoy the space. (Detroit)
Downtown alleys-often service
areas or leftover spaces-
FALL 2 024
URBAN LAND
23
People are asking
why we should
care about
downtown, so
we need to give
people more
reasons to come
to the area. "
-Eric Tao, managing
partner, L37, ULI
ASP panelist in San
Francisco
DEVELOPMENTS
2024 Fall Issue of Urban Land

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