2024 Fall Issue of Urban Land - 24

developments
developments
Pittsburgh's only downtown
university, Point Park
University (PPU), has taken
a leadership role in the
city's economic growth and
resilience strategy.
can provide welcome breaks
from the often overwhelming
scale of downtown buildings.
Temporary string lights, movable
furniture, and music can
completely transform an overlooked
corner of the city into
the next hot spot.
" 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
Placemaking can provide the
initial activation that can lead
to downtown's next important
anchor. A virtuous cycle
of activation to amenity to
anchor can provide a valuable
testing ground for downtown.
Activations can include retail
housed in shipping containers
or pods, street musicians, farmers
markets, or a mural program.
When those programs
are embraced, the next step in
the cycle can occur-a grocery
store, a plug-and-play stage, or
a digital display on a building's
exterior.
The anchor stage takes full
advantage of the visibility and
success of the existing activations
and creates an asset
that is foundational to downtown,
such as a destination
restaurant, a music industry
incubator, or an art museum
outpost. Any opportunity to
bring a city's civic amenities to
downtown can create a gravitational
pull, giving visitors and
residents even more reasons
to stay.
Report: Clustering civic
amenities downtown will also
support visitation and use as
well as spark additional activation
. . . creating a gravitational
pull for visitors and facilitating
visitation across a number of
venues. (Sacramento)
Downtown living
One important element in a
shift from a predominantly
office-based downtown is the
inclusion of more housing.
Developers and policymakers
are racing together to find
ways to more efficiently convert
vacant or outdated office
buildings into attractive residential
towers. Some buildings,
particularly turn-of-the-century
historic structures with wide
columns and massive floorplates,
appear to be attractive
conversion subjects; however,
most would require such massive
reconstruction as to make
conversion nearly impossible.
" When we talk about
downtowns, there is a focus
on office workers, but even
pre-pandemic, there was a
shift toward residential and
away from office. The future
of downtowns is a shift in the
marketplace, and about how
to get more people to live
in these spaces. " -Nolan A.
Marshall III, executive director,
South Park Business Improvement
District, ULI ASP panelist
in San Francisco and St. Louis
Even cities with thriving
downtowns are vexed by the
lack of affordable housing in
and around the city center.
Many lower-income workers
in the downtown service and
hospitality industries can't
afford to live near their jobs.
Whereas many developers
continue to chase the luxury
market, cities are working to
incentivize more affordable
residential products. The diversity
of housing products and
price points is important to the
long-term stability of residential
uses downtown.
Recent data suggest significant
potential for expanding
affordable housing into
downtown areas. Deloitte
estimates that, by 2030, nearly
14,700 affordable units could
be added in central business
districts nationwide, assuming
20 percent of the converted
square footage is allocated for
affordable housing.
24
URBAN LAND
FALL 2 024
ULI
2024 Fall Issue of Urban Land

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