2024 Fall Issue of Urban Land - 41

to the downtown mix, which is not to say
that Nashville doesn't still struggle with office
space, but it feels very different in downtown
Nashville now than in other downtowns.
What successful downtown revitalization
efforts might provide useful models?
ROSS: More people should know about the
downtown revitalization of small cities. It
is the small, consistent strides that need to
be celebrated. For example, in the city of
Fayetteville, [Georgia,] which celebrated its
200th anniversary [last year], we modernized
the city's zoning by consolidating 28
districts into eight, enabling small businesses
to coexist with residential areas and fostering
a more integrated community. Collaborating
with the Southern Conservation Trust, we
preserved large natural areas by prescribing
compact building footprints. This balanced
approach of development and conservation
transformed Fayetteville into a vibrant, sustainable
downtown, [one that offers] a model
for other small cities. It demonstrates how
thoughtful zoning and strategic partnerships
can create thriving, sustainable urban centers
without the need for grand gestures.
COLLIGNON: Post-9/11 New York is an interesting
example. 9/11 was very different from
the pandemic, but it was a substantial shock
to the downtown system. What proved
successful in driving dramatic change was
having a deputy mayor who had the ear of
the mayor and was explicitly charged with
rebuilding, so they could create cross-agency
collaboration and decision-making that would
drive downtown revitalization. Also, the state
and the city formed the Lower Manhattan
Development Corporation, which provided a
vehicle for building up staff capacity and funneling
different funding resources to the projects
that needed to happen. The Downtown
Alliance, the business improvement district
for lower Manhattan, brought the private sector's
voice and leadership in prioritizing reinvestment
in downtown, in addition to serving
as a vehicle for additional external fundraising
and advocating for downtown.
ARBATSKAIA: One of my favorites recently is
Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine development. It's
a public/private partnership where the
private partner is 3CDC, a nonprofit real
estate development and finance organization.
3CDC has acquired a lot of land over the
years and has put an emphasis on preserving
and revitalizing the downtown's historic
German settlements. That provides a reason
for tourists to visit. Developing affordable
housing in the area has brought diversity and
more density, and 3CDC has also revitalized
several parks. Over-the-Rhine has more than
365 events per year. It's been very successful,
and now private developers are interested.
DEMOSS: In Chicago, the Fulton Market District
is the one that everyone would point
to. It completely transformed itself from a
meatpacking district into a 24/7 live/work/
play environment over just a decade. It might
serve as a model for the Central, East, and
West Loop, if they can take that playbook
and replicate it in some capacity.
What other trends or strategies are you
excited about?
DEMOSS: In Chicago's Central Loop, we're
watching the LaSalle Street and Monroe
Street office-to-residential conversions very
closely. Those will take office spaces offline,
which is badly needed right now, while creating
more of a 24/7 live/work atmosphere
and sparking a retail upswing. All that will
potentially coincide with Google taking
occupancy of the nearby Thompson Center,
which is being redeveloped into Google's
Chicago headquarters. If all those [things]
did coincide, that would create a brand-new
atmosphere in the Central Loop. On a smaller
scale, there are building sales currently playing
out across the central business district,
with low-occupancy office buildings attracting
potential hotel and multifamily buyers.
ARBATSKAIA: Transit-oriented development
is an exciting strategy. MiamiCentral in Miami,
where the Brightline [intercity rail route] was
built recently, is booming, and it's bringing
walkability, livability, and vitality to the area.
UL
RON NYREN is a San Francisco-based architecture and urban
design writer.
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2024 Fall Issue of Urban Land

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