economic development process, while othersare consulted when the need arises to addressspecific downtown development matters.Regardless of the role of the downtown organi-zation in the overall economic developmentstrategy, there are several trends that willreshape the work that downtown organiza-tions/community planners contribute to theeconomic development process.

• Oversupply of retail space will focus siteselection decision making on positive demo-graphic and household income growth. Therole of population and socio-economic forecastswill become the “community calling card” —notifying the marketplace about the number ofhouseholds and the growth of their income, fore-casting the ability to support new retail business-es, especially in downtown locations.

• Unoccupied retail, office and industrialbuildings will be pursued by developers for re-purposing due to deflated purchaseprices. Comprehensive plans and zoning regulations should be modified to allow re-purposing of former industrial and commer-cial buildings.

• Decreasing property values willincrease pressure to use land for its highesteconomic potential, which equates to thegreatest tax valuation. This will encouragedesignating more easily-developable higher-value land, and support its quick development.

Perspectives

Revising downtown efforts for the post-recession economyBy Charles Eckenstahler

Over the past year, I have been con-ducting an informal survey of friends and col-leagues responsible for downtown revitaliza-tion throughout the Midwest. All of thoseinterviewed acknowledged that local commu-nities cannot rely totally on federal and statestimulus programs to replace lost businessesand jobs. Leaders in every community believean active downtown revitalization programwill be mandatory in the future. These pro-grams must address a new and different post-recessionary local economy, the one nowbeing formed right before their eyes.

Aggressive communities are respondingto the challenge of this new economic envi-ronment by working with local/regional lead-ers reviewing past economic developmentefforts, and discussing ways to transformlocal/regional economic development strate-gies and programs in response to their visionof the post-recession economy.

To fast track growth of the local economyat the first sign of economic recovery (whichmay now be happening), they are activelyretooling downtown revitalization strategies,adapting the best traditional tools, and identi-fying new economic practices.

Some downtown organizations are active-ly involved on a daily basis in the community

This article was reprinted from the July 2011 issue of Downtown Idea Exchange.Interested readers may subscribe to the monthly newsletter by visiting http://www.downtowndevelopment.com or phoning (973) 265-2300.

© 2011 Alexander Communications Group, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying or otherwise without the prior written permission of Alexander Communications Group.

Essential Information for Downtown Revitalization

DowntownIdea Exchange

July 2011

• Lender financing for front end costsrequired to obtain approvals has vanished.Developers will seek public help in fundingthese, plus assurances of timing and decisioncertainty before undertaking new developmentprojects. Costs and expenses incurred in thedevelopment approval process should bestreamlined.

• Increased incentives will be requiredto recruit private developer interest.Expanded incentives may be necessary toattract private investors in community-devel-opment sponsored projects that would likelybe viewed as unattractive in today’s privatereal estate investment market.

• Quality of life factors and job proxim-ity, especially in central business districts,will play a greater role in the selection ofplaces to live, especially for young peoplejust finishing their educations, bringing todowntown certain skill sets sought by busi-nesses that have future growth and expansioncapabilities.

Placemaking efforts to increase communi-ty quality of life, especially in the centralbusiness district, will become a top priority inefforts to increase population growth, espe-cially of young talented workers and familieswith children.

• Speed and certainty in processinggovernmental approvals will distinguishdevelopment-friendly communities. Speedand certainty will be used as recruitment toolsto entice development interest.

Large developments will be broken downinto smaller phased increments, size matchedto reduced market demand and availablefinancing.

• Development regulations requiringinstallation of infrastructure in advance ofneed in large-scaled multi-year develop-ment projects should be reconsidered,especially when infrastructure installationguarantees or performance bonds are required;and creative public funding assistance shouldbe explored when such infrastructure is crucialand cannot be guaranteed by the developer.

Downtown development and planningwill assume greater importance in the overallcommunity economic development strategydue to the need for greater high-value realestate, increased incentives, and expandedinducements to attract commitments for pub-lic sponsored development projects.

At no time in history have communityleaders faced the economic development chal-lenges of today. There is no doubt that profes-sional downtown developers and communityplanners will have an increased role in thisstrategic economic development planning.

Author note: This paper was originallyprepared for presentation at the 2010 PurdueUniversity North Central Topics in RegionalEconomic Development program.Chuck Eckenstahler (AICP Retired), semi-retired in 2008 from a 35-year career as an active full-timemunicipal planning, economic development and real estate consultant. He can be contacted atpctecken@comcast.net or (219) 861-2077.

© 2011 Alexander Communications Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

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