2024 Fall Issue of Urban Land - 27

DEVELOPMENTS
Public sector leadership
and partnerships
Funding support, zoning modifications,
and infrastructure
improvements, led by the
public sector, can have a tremendous
impact on the ability
of the real estate industry
to re-envision and position
buildings and spaces for new
uses. Tax abatement, tax increment
financing, and business
incentives can close the funding
gap for a new downtown
project, or infuse new funding
into an existing business that is
committed to downtown.
In downtowns where office
space predominates, rezoning
will be needed to permit
residential, mixed, or other creative
uses. In some instances,
doing so may mean including
zoning for entertainment/retail,
offering open container permits
for festivals and events,
expanding hours of operation
for bars and entertainment
venues, and allowing special
events.
Report: Addressing tax
reform, modernizing zoning
and entitlements, and empowering
downtown agencies
should help spur additional
residential development downtown.
(Detroit)
Some U.S. cities are finding
success through the creation
of a so-called Nighttime Mayor.
This executive-level staffer
typically operates within the
mayor's office and represents
the interests of the businesses
operating in the downtown
area after 5:00 p.m.
Report: The concept of a
nighttime mayor originated
in the Netherlands, where
Amsterdam appointed its first
" nachtburgemeester " in 2014.
Since then, the position has
gained popularity in cities
around the world, including in
the United States. The role of
a nighttime mayor is to serve
as a liaison between nightlife
businesses and government
agencies and to help develop a
city's nightlife by
ensuring safety, fostering cultural
vibrancy, and driving economic
development during the
nighttime hours. The position
is not meant to have regulatory
or enforcement authority,
but rather to serve as a bridge
builder between nightlife businesses
and government agencies.
(Minneapolis)
" We are seeing a different
use of space across downtowns
and more street and
public infrastructure transformations
across the board. Also,
incorporating a place's unique
culture into the downtown
environment to attract workers,
residents, and visitors is
another current trend. Culture
makers have traditionally been
excluded from downtown and
the opportunity is now there
with lower rents and access to
ground floor space. It's time to
start seeing these places less
as central business and financial
districts and more as central
social districts and cultural
hubs. " -Nolan A. Marshall III,
executive director, South Park
Business Improvement District,
ULI ASP panelist in San Francisco
and St. Louis
Role of the real estate
industry
Many of the buildings that
fill our downtowns are ready
for their next life. Creativity is
needed, and financing mechanisms
to support that creativity
will be required, as will public
policies that flex to support
new uses in areas that were
once exclusively " commercial. "
The real estate industry is
full of creative entrepreneurs,
pioneers who can see life in a
building where others cannot.
Nearly every city can point to
at least one pivotal project that
was envisioned with a new use,
seen to completion by a developer
and their team, and
subsequently sparked additional
investment in the surrounding
area. Whereas some
real estate developers are
highly risk-avoidant-preferring
projects with few unknowns-
there are many who have taken
on monumental challenges and
turned hulking shells into thriving
hives of life and energy.
" Downtowns provide the
geographic opportunity for a
high concentration of buildings,
activity, workforce, and housing.
It's time to remake downtowns
into 24/7 neighborhoods. " -Eric
Tao, managing partner, L37, ULI
ASP panelist in San Francisco
Developers working in such
cities as Austin, Nashville, New
York, Miami, and Atlanta have
seen these principles at work
and are finding success. The
cities' diversity of uses, clear
public sector leadership, strong
housing markets, and evident
brands promise to support the
real estate investments already
made-and continue to inspire
new ones-as they rebuild their
downtowns for the 21st century.
This article was produced
in collaboration by the ULI
Communications and Advisory
Services teams. Many of
these Advisory Services panel
projects would not have been
possible without ULI's generous
member donors through the
ULI Foundation and the Terwilliger
Center for Housing.
You can find most of the
reports referenced in this
article and more on Knowledge
Finder: https://knowledge.uli.
org.
KELLY ANNIS owns Branch
Communications.
FALL 202 4
URBAN LAND
27
We are seeing
a different use
of space across
downtowns and
more street
and public
infrastructure
transformations
across the board. "
- Nolan A. Marshall
III, South Park BID,
and ULI ASP panelist
in San Francisco and
St. Louis
https://www.knowledge.uli
2024 Fall Issue of Urban Land

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