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Partners in Revitalization
Session: Partners in Revitalization March 31, 8:45 AM Scott R. Chesney, AICP Successful redevelopment of places involves more than replacing tenants in a declining downtown central business district or creating industrial parks on the edges of communities. It is the replacement and restructuring of the economy of a place in a manner that sustains growth over a long-term and provides stability for the ongoing infusion of capital by the private sector. It means not only determining the right mix of uses, but, more importantly, creating the right team to plan, implement, and manage the revitalization process. Creating effective partnerships is critical to this effort because private partners bring three things to the process: talent, business acumen that “knows how to get things done efficiently;” stability, the ability to create and sustain an institutional memory beyond the various electoral cycles of public office for projects that take years; and capital, the ability to bring resources to bear on the project and solicit additional resources credibly. These resources can be loaned executive staff, land, business development projects, political support, and, of course capital. By committing to the betterment of a community, the private sector creates a credible source of activity in which the public sector can participate by establishing clear community values and objectives and creating a straightforward development review and funding process. Chesney & Associates, LLC and Vandewalle & Associates have created a proprietary process by which these activities are identified, analyzed, organized, and directed to achieve successful results in the first three to five years, with a strategy for the ongoing development efforts necessary to create a stable and sustainable economic base for the community. Ours is an integrated planning and economics process that is driven by the philosophy of how the market can be managed to achieve community objectives and values. Our process synthesizes these private and public resources to focus our planning analyses by employing the knowledge base of the region through the skills of our private partners to bring out emerging economic issues and opportunities for consideration. This element, alone, brings valuable information to bear on redevelopment analyses by injecting new economic opportunities into the planning and development process. It is a key means by which our process bridges the gap between documenting and facilitating business development through local investment and simply asking for businesses philanthropic contributions to the community—perhaps the key element to sustainable and long-term community success. Our process has a proven record of success for communities over the past ten to twelve years and is working currently in places of the Great Lakes Industrial “Rust Belt” as well as emerging growth areas of the Colorado Front Range and the West. Our process can work in places of any size and location. By approaching this from the basis of achieving a community’s desired economic objectives, this process always keeps the team’s focus on the longer-term vision, it shows the community how (and why) to avoid “development for development’s sake” when the local economy is declining. Author and Copyright Information © CHESNEY ASSOCIATES, LLC and VANDEWALLE & ASSOCIATES 2003. All rights reserved. The party to whom this document is conveyed ("Client") from CHESNEY
ASSOCIATES, LLC and VANDEWALLE & ASSOCIATES In no event shall CHESNEY ASSOCIATES, LLC and VANDEWALLE & ASSOCIATES be
liable to Client or any third party This document is based on copyrighted materials of CHESNEY ASSOCIATES, LLC and VANDEWALLE & ASSOCIATES. Scott R. Chesney, AICP |