Community Revitalization Desktop Guide

corporation or a hospital or university, but the partnering individual or organization needs to be willing to put some skin in the game and provide investment as well as avid and vigorous support for the redevelopment project. A local partner guarantees that someone with extensive knowledge of the local community is available to inform every step of the process and make sure the project not only meets market realities but also addresses the community’s needs and goals. A local partner can also provide stable, progressive local leadership that can help make things happen. Before we will invest our time and resources, we need to have a sense that there is a good chance the proposed project will reach fruition. Pennsylvania’s cities and towns have key amenities that a niche market of consumers is looking for. There is a substantial and growing part of the market that prefers an urban location because it is walkable and has unique amenities and a strong sense of community. In this case, the market is out in front of policy makers and elected ofﬁcials, who seem to believe that a suburban product is what people want. To tap into this market, however, Pennsylvania’s cities and towns must ensure that the price of the units is right and that the amenities people want are present. Consumers considering urban locations demand public safety, decent services and natural and retail amenities. One of the most common things we hear from customers is that they want to get out of their cars and walk to retail destinations, parks and neighbors’ homes. They also want quality public space from parks to trails, convenience and specialty stores within walking distance, and a safe, friendly environment. Of course, to develop housing, retail, or ofﬁce products, there has to be readily available land. We are interested in any large tract of land, near or within geographic areas with a competitive advantage that the local government or RDA controls or the owner wishes to sell. While we recognize that eminent domain can be a useful tool in assembling property for a well-planned, well-ﬁnanced project with a high capacity for success, we tend to avoid situations where the action leads principally to levels of conﬂict and controversy that limit the opportunity for site control. We identify potential sites from a variety of different sources. Sometimes someone from the State’s Community Action Team will ask me to look at something or I will get a call from a local ofﬁcial. Where it sounds like there is an opportunity that we can harness, we meet with local ofﬁcials, the banks, the county and the state and see if the political will and ﬁnancial tools are sufﬁcient to make development happen. I include the state in the initial meeting because it is an important player we want at the table as early as possible. State ofﬁcials have been rolling up their sleeves and taking out a checkbook all over the Commonwealth to ensure that Pennsylvania’s older communities have the tools to attract private investment and pursue high- impact community revitalization. Our goal is to ﬁnd the highest and best use for the site and then partner with developers if they have an expertise that we do not. We are experts in building residential or ofﬁce buildings on brownﬁelds. We have little experience with retail. Beware of a developer who says he can do anything. There is no such thing as an all-purpose developer. Most developers specialize in one or two areas, but where there is a winning project on the table, we can almost always ﬁnd partners with the expertise we may lack. Do not reject the introduction of vibrant civic areas or parks because of concerns about maintaining them over the long term. We understand that many communities are ﬁnancially stretched to maintain the amenities they already have in place. But not only will new development provide an additional tax base to support maintenance, it can also borrow a tool from the suburbs to maintain it. I’m referring to the homeowners association. When you build more than 20 homes on a site, you can add to the contract of every buyer the responsibility to pay monthly fees to support maintenance of the parks, to change light bulbs in the streetlights or to plow rear drives behind homes. Finally, take the time to plan and determine what you want on a site. Good plans attract good development. If a Mayor or broker tells me there is no zoning and no plan and I can do whatever I want on the land, that means that someone else can build anything they want next to my development and bring down my property values. Come to the table with a vision and then demand quality development that will be viable and sustainable ﬁfteen years from now. The greatest strength of Pennsylvania’s towns is that they are unique places. Our towns have retained the unique walkable urban fabric that Disney just spent millions of dollars trying to replicate in its Florida Celebration community. People want to walk. They want to have housing units that look like people actually live in them. They don’t want to maintain a big place. They want open space they don’t have to weed or mow. People want a different way to live. Again, not everyone wants those things. But an emerging part of the market certainly does. In an effort to meet the demands of this market, architects and planners across the country are talking about the beneﬁts of New Urbanism. With a historic charm that cannot be replicated, Pennsylvania communities stand ready to match those beneﬁts. INTERVIEWS WITH DEVELOPERS WHO HAVE INVESTED IN PA CITIES AND TOWNS 36

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Community Revitalization Desktop Guide

PA Community Revitalization Desktop Guide Table of Contents How To Attract High Impact Investment to Core Communities Goal One: Choose One Asset-Rich Redevelopment Area Interviews with Pennsylvania Mayors Goal Two: Prepare Redevelopment Area for Market Interviews with Developers who Have Invested in Pennsylvania Cities and Towns Goal Three: Welcome Investment Interviews with Developers who Have Invested in Pennsylvania Cities and Towns Goal Four: Apply Strategies That Work Conclusion

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