Community Revitalization Desktop Guide

neighboring city that does not have such requirements, or to another state that has a proven proﬁtable investment climate. step two: present responsive, reliable local government Development dollars are like water; they ﬂow to the path of least resistance. Making your municipality an easier place for new development to happen will help to drive the market to you. – Michael O’Neill, Preferred Real Estate Investments, Inc. Founder and Chairman Developers across the state were interviewed about what actions local government can take that will make a city or borough more attractive for investment. Their answers formed the basis for this section. Developers want to invest in a trustworthy environment. Developers stated unanimously that they will avoid a community with dishonest ofﬁcials. Trustworthy public ofﬁcials provide predictability to the process. When the Mayor or City Council President makes a commitment, the developer can rely upon it and so can the lenders, contractors, tenants and others who depend upon a project being done on time. No developer wants to put themselves in the position of investing in a town and having the rug pulled out from under them when someone with better political connections shows up. Developers seek a supportive public partner. Private sector real estate developers need an effective public sector partner in every deal. A local government partner must speak with one voice and not allow egos and disagreements that have existed in a municipality for years to endanger a project. Local government partners should also be willing to go to bat for the development when opposition inevitably rears its head. Just as municipality leaders check the developer’s references and past projects to make sure they can get things done, they will be looking to see what the municipality has accomplished. Developers need to make a proﬁt. After years of hard work from local government and business leaders, it can be disconcerting to have a developer walk off with the proﬁt. This proﬁt, however, proves the market and is critical to attracting further private investment. As a result, local government needs to carefully consider the potential consequences before introducing interventions in the market place such as requirements for private investors to pick up the cost of activities, programs, facilities, or services that are not part of the universally recognized investment fundamentals. These additional requirements may cause developer dollars to ﬂow elsewhere—to a No one trains people to be Mayor. – Mayor of Lancaster Rick Grey Developers rely on Mayors to lead. Even in cities with a ‘weak mayor’ system, where day-to-day city management powers reside formally with the City Council or an appointed city manager, developers look to the mayor to play the essential role of visionary and consensus builder. Attracting private investment is an effort to provoke change and change is often met by resistance. It is therefore essential to have a leader who can work with community, business and civic leaders to embrace the decisions required to stimulate the local economy. Civic Strategies, a national ﬁrm that designs and implements public policies for local governments, interviewed successful Mayors across the country and arrived at seven rules for creating and implementing successful city revitalization plans: 1. Borrow from everyone: The most successful mayors are magpies who pick up ideas that are already ﬂoating around the community. 2. Start with small conversations but expand quickly: The best ideas often emerge from small gatherings in which thinkers and leaders trade ideas with elected ofﬁcials. But town hall meetings and neighborhood forums do play a critical role as early proving grounds for ideas. 3. Build from existing strengths: Plans succeed because they “feel right” to people, and that’s generally because they build on an existing asset in the community. The asset may not be readily apparent to all, but once it is pointed out, it becomes obvious. 4. Don’t go public with visionary programs too soon: Once municipality leaders have settled on a plan, they need to spend time ﬁguring out its implementation. In particular, it is necessary to identify the four to ﬁve greatest obstacles the visionary program will likely face and work hard to reduce them in order to prevent the plan from becoming a political football. Also, this time can be used to get “buy-in” from other leaders, including city administrators, city council members and business leaders. Their support will be necessary later on. 5. Show how to pay for it: One obstacle all ambitious plans face is skepticism about paying for them. Deal with this obstacle ﬁrst. 6. Begin with the parts of the plan people can most easily relate to: Make sure the plan is marketed on a human scale, with many opportunities for residents and business interests to see how it will improve their lives and livelihoods. 7. Stay focused: Most elected ofﬁcials are remembered for only a handful of things. Leaders need to make sure their administration is remembered for its successes, not its failures. The best way to do that is to identify the two or three things that will be lasting accomplishments, pour time and energy into them – and don’t fail. 60 “ Leadership is the act of disappointing your supporters at a rate they can absorb.” – HARVARD’S JOHN F. KENNEDY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT CURRICULUM FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS GOAL THREE: WELCOME INVESTMENT step two: present responsive, reliable local government 42

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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