On Common Ground: Summer 2005

Revitalization
meets
Smart Growth
W
hen the Smart Growth discussion began in the mid-1990s among citizens, public
officials and planners, the primary focus was on managing growth at the urban
fringe. The conversion of large amounts of farm and forest land to low-density
development was a major concern then, as it remains today. But over the past few years, it
has become more widely recognized that the revitalization of existing communities is also a
vital element of Smart Growth, and maybe a more fruitful arena for focused attention.

2 ON COMMON GROUND SUMMER 2005

There are obvious advantages to developing in
existing communities — infrastructure is already
in place, and meeting growth demand with infill
and redevelopment could help reduce the gob-
bling-up of open countryside. But targeting older
communities for growth and investment also offers
great opportunities for improvement. These com-
munities have experienced decades of disinvest-
ment and often provide little in the way of retail
services that are taken for granted in the newer
suburbs. Growth — new housing and commercial
development — can be used to complete these
neighborhoods by offering a wider range of hous-
ing opportunities and by creating mixed-use walk-
able neighborhoods that meet an increasing
market demand.
We have tracked the increasing interest
in walkable, mixed-use communities in the
Smart Growth surveys undertaken by NAR
as well as the surveys of others.
Increasingly, consumers are saying they
want to walk to destinations such as shops ban expansion, and
and restaurants, and they are willing to live Smart Growth pro-
in higher-density housing in order to ponents still need to
achieve this lifestyle. Last year, 12 percent focus energies and
of all existing home sales in the country budgets on preserv-
were condos, and condos appreciated more ing open space and
in percent of value than detached houses. improving the plan-
As articles in this issue of On Common ning models for new
Ground illustrate, this demand is being met suburban and exur-
with new housing and retail development in ban development.
the downtowns of cities large and small, in But investing in and
older suburbs that are creating new mixed- strengthening older
use downtowns, and in smaller Main Street towns. communities is a winning Smart Growth strategy
Make no mistake, the predominant develop- for creating better neighborhoods and a wider
ment pattern continues to be low-density subur- range of housing options.

For more information on NAR and Smart Growth, go to www.realtor.org/smartgrowth.

On Common Ground is published twice a year by the Government Affairs office of the NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (NAR), and is distributed free of charge. The publication presents a wide
range of views on Smart Growth issues, with the goal of encouraging a dialogue among REALTORS®, elect-
ed officials and other interested citizens. The opinions expressed in On Common Ground are those of the
authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policy of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
REALTORS®, its members or affiliate organizations.

Editor: Joseph R. Molinaro, Manager, Smart Growth Programs
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
500 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Distribution: For more copies of this issue or to be placed on our mailing list for future issues
of On Common Ground, please contact Ted Wright,
NAR Government Affairs, at (202) 383-1206 or twright@realtors.org.

SUMMER 2005 ON COMMON GROUND 3

28
Attractions of
the Small Town

58
All Aboard!

52
16
The Code
New Life in the
Old Burbs

Word Is Smart


On Common Ground
Summer 2005
6 New Downtown Housing
Not just the biggest cities.
by Martin Zimmerman

22
10 If You Rebuild, Will They Come?
The revitalization of Main Street.
by Brad Broberg

16 The Code Word is Smart Growth What Was Once
Building codes are reflecting Old Is Now New
the demand for revamping
older structures.
by John Van Gieson

10
22 What Was Once Old Is Now New
Transforming greyfield sites into
new communities.
by Jason Miller
If You Rebuild, 28 Attractions of the Small Town
Will They Come? by Brad Broberg

32 No Vacancies
Cities struggle to reclaim
abandoned properties.
by Jason Miller

38 Smart Growth Redo of
Mid-Size Cities
by Heidi Johnson-Wright

44 Commercial Comebacks
by David Goldberg

52 New Life in the Old Burbs
Diverse home buyers are reviv-
ing older, inner-ring suburbs.
by Steve Wright

58 All Aboard!
Streetcars lead the way to
Neighborhood Reinvestment.
by Christine Jordan Sexton

64 Smart Growth in the States

On Common Ground thanks the following contributors and organizations for photographs, illustrations and artist ren-
derings reprinted in this issue: Baltimore County Office of Communications, Boulevard Centro, Payton Chung, City of
North Miami, Congress for the New Urbanism, Continuum Partners LLC, Kay Dannen of Shiels Obletz Johnson, Inc.,
Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co., Alan Feinberg of Central Maryland Development, Inc., Flaherty and Collins Properties, Jill
Freeman, Francesca Gambetti, Shiels Obletz Johnsen, Inc., Val Giannettino of Downtown Partners Inc. in Burlington,
Iowa, Leslie Grower of Center City Commission, Emily Hall of Durkee, Brown, Viveiros & Werenfels Architects,
Hillsborough Area Transit Authority, Hoyt Street Properties, Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, Littleton
Main Street, Inc., Alex MacLean, Rich McLaughlin, Ed McMahon, Urban Land Institute, Metro 2005, Darrell Moore,
Myhre Group Architects 2004, Novare Group, Steve Rosenthal, Joe Schilling, Patricia Shetley of Patricia Shetley and
Associates, Inc., Michael Stevens, DC Marketing Center, Douglas S. Storrs of Cornish Associates, LP Told
,
Development Company, Unity Council, Beth Van Der Jagt of Looney Ricks Kiss Architects and Wisconsin Department
of Tourism.


new
downtown
housing Not just the biggest cities

By Martin Zimmerman

T
he Upsurge
To the relief and surprise of those who
savor an urban lifestyle, the housing
boom which has flourished in and near down-
towns over the past decade shows no signs of
abating. Equally unexpected is that this boom
is common to cities of widely varying sizes
and in all regions of the country. In cities with
an industrial legacy, converted warehouses
within easy walking distance of downtowns
are attracting the young, affluent professional
market. Hip and artsy districts are taking root
with names like SoMa, Lodo, SoDo and
DUMBO…all derived from Manhattan’s cast
iron Soho district where it all began. Let’s call
this Type I.
Type II is characterized by the construction
of new housing on close-in open sites. Type III
is associated with the conversion of vacant but
architecturally notable buildings such as
department stores or office buildings. Type IV
focuses on new infill projects. Type V has just
begun to emerge in some of the bigger cities
and consists of new luxurious high-rise con-
dos planned for the over privileged.
And what of the loft? Its popularity is so
pervasive that it is being replicated in the
three other types of buildings…and with no
apologies to Soho.

Charlotte, N.C.


The Determinants
However, to truly contribute to an urban lifestyle, downtown housing
depends on a support system, i.e. a set of determinants. Based upon a
study by the Brookings Institution, these are listed as follows:
• Downtown political and business leadership must be pro-housing.
• City financial subsidies must be allocated to housing.
• Zoning must mandate high-density housing in conformance with
compact, coherent districts based on the New Urbanist model.
• Downtowns must express a rich blend of old and new architecture.
• Downtowns must slow down the auto, minimize parking and give
the pedestrian and cyclist priority.
• Downtowns need to encourage and tolerate pedestrian-intensive
activities such as farmer’s markets, street theatre, political leaflet-
ing and sidewalk vendors. This means the kind of spontaneous
interaction that is impossible in the suburban malls.
• Downtowns must be clean and safe.
• Neighborhoods bordering downtowns should be attractive with
unhampered access to downtowns by foot, car or bicycle.
• A downtown management entity must coordinate the affairs of the
various facets of a downtown.

Springfield, MO
Downtown Springfield sits within a city of 150,000, including two uni-
versities located a few minutes away. Throughout the 1980s and early
90s, downtown remained a fraction of its former size, the only evidence
of housing being a few makeshift lofts and rooming houses. Things
began to change in 1998 when a maverick developer bought a vacant
building and converted it to five lofts. Over the next two years another
55 units were added and a local business pumped $3.2 million into a
start-up brew pub. Soon other pubs and restaurants sprouted, a nonprofit

Downtowns need to encourage and
tolerate pedestrian-intensive activities.
Community Development Corporation (CDC) was formed, a downtown
plan was prepared and 13 banks pooled money for gap financing. All of
this set the stage for the real housing surge. In the last three years anoth-
er 166 units have been built, 60 are currently under construction and 86
are planned. This raises the total to just under 400. Rents have remained
affordable in the $600-$1,200 range. In Springfield, virtually all of the
housing is Type III — adaptive reuse of older buildings.
“In bigger cities, inserting three- or four-hundred housing units of
housing in the downtown does not make much impact. In Springfield it
has had a major impact,” says John Simmons, director of the Urban
District Alliance.

Charlotte, NC
Unlike other cities which stood helpless while businesses fled,
Charlotte, in keeping with its corporate ethos, fought back with a
vengeance during the 1970s and 80s. Such zeal came at a price as
numerous historic structures fell to the wrecking ball, and the Brooklyn
African-American community was leveled to make way for a sterile gov-
ernment center.


By the 1990s a consolidation and redirection Hope VI effort mixed race, income and housing
took place consistent with the determinants stated types to create a model neighborhood of 750 resi-
above, and several blockbuster projects were built. dences, now called the Garden District. Building
Foremost among these was the Nations Bank head- setbacks, architectural scale and street presence
quarters, a centerpiece for uptown (as referred to in were all conceived in accordance with New
Charlotte) which combined an elegant 60-story Urbanist principles. The Gateway mixed-use proj-
tower with a home for the Charlotte Symphony. ect combined 699 units of mid-rise housing with a
Meanwhile, residential population remained static Bank of America office facility and a New Urban
at 3000 units. campus for Johnson and Wales University.
In 1998 the housing upsurge began with a num- As a result, residential units increased in uptown
ber of different projects moving forward simultane- from 3,000 in 1995 to 9,500 in 2005. In the past 10
ously. The heaviest concentrations occurred in two months developers have unveiled plans for eight
projects — Hope VI and Gateway Village. In addi- high-rises, including one that will soar to 56 stories.
tion to replacing deteriorated public housing, the It looks like a goal of 12,000 by 2007 is within reach.

Other Cities
Downtown housing is a Birmingham, Alabama – By 1998 this city had
long-awaited and much- added 14 apartment buildings with six more
planned. Initially rentals, there has been a shift to
heralded success. a 45-percent ownership level. Developers also
have been working towards conver-
sion of the John Hand building, one
of Birmingham’s first skyscrapers,
Planned housing development in Charlotte, N.C.
into a mixed-use facility with a bank,
residences, offices and a health club.
Memphis, Tennessee – The cre-
ation of downtown housing in
Memphis has been a mix of large
and small projects. Mud Island, an
ongoing effort which straddles the
downtown zone, has grown to 2,600
housing units since the late 1980s,
of which 75 percent are apartments.
As of 2003 plans were afoot for
another large undertaking mixing
Hope VI subsidized units with mar-
ket-rate units. Financing was being
arranged through HUD ($35 mil-
lion), City of Memphis ($18.1 mil-
lion), private equity and loans ($58.5
million) and public and private
grants ($14.7million). Other intrigu-
ing projects include the conversion
of the imposing central rail station to
housing and the Rivermark
Apartments, converted from a
Holiday Inn.
Cleveland, Ohio – Despite an
ominous population decline in the
city overall, the 2000 census indicat-
ed a 51-percent growth in downtown
housing to a total of 8,105 units. The
regeneration of the Warehouse
District has contributed to this
change, where an investment of
$133 million has paid off with 1,000
apartments and associated night
life.


Mixed housing and
affordable housing
must exist.

Conclusion
Clearly downtown housing is a
long-awaited and much-heralded Memphis, Tenn.
success. But is that really the case?
Upon closer scrutiny, it appears
that unless several warning signs mass transit use and undermines aspirations for a
are heeded, downtown housing may fall short of 24/7 lifestyle.
its full potential. In too many situations, vital serv- How downtowns will relate to suburbs is yet
ices such as grocery stores, hair salons, dentists or another issue. Even in larger cities, downtown
dry cleaners are missing. Houses of worship, populations will not likely exceed 30,000 resi-
branch libraries, YMCAs and public schools are dences while metropolitan regions are in the mil-
also absent. lions and still growing. Even more foreboding is a
Lower-income and family living is essential to recent contingent of suburban developers who
bring balance to the current dominance of affluent have jumped on the bandwagon with plans to con-
singles and wealthy empty-nesters. Given the rise struct loft condos “for people who don’t want to
that has already occurred in land values, such a live in the city.”
move will most likely require public subsidies. Nevertheless, the hope is that with each project
Before high-rises are built, their architectural completed, downtown housing will take another
qualities require design review. An ugly building step toward overcoming the warning signs while
that is three stories high cannot mar the skyline of continuing to enrich the urban experience in the
a downtown as much as a slapdash structure ris- process.
ing 30 stories.
Parking, when allowed to remain at or near Martin Zimmerman is an architect, planner and urban
suburban ratios, means less walking, biking or affairs journalist currently residing in Charlotte, N.C.


If you rebuild,


will they come?
the revitalization
of Main Street
By Brad Broberg

A
s former director of the National Trust Main Street Center,
Kennedy Smith knows Smart Growth when she sees it —
even when serendipity rather than strategy is driving the bus.
A program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the
Main Street Center helps towns and neighborhoods revive declin-
ing business districts through a tried-and-true blend of design,
development and restoration activities. Supported by public and
private investment, the Main Street approach provides communi-
ties with a blueprint for reviving and preserving the unique histo-
ry, architecture and vitality of old-fashioned downtowns.
In most cases, says Smith, communities adopt the Main Street
approach as a way to fight back against outlying shopping malls
and superstores that have sucked the life out of their longtime com-
mercial cores. However, like a box of Cracker Jacks, Main Street
initiatives offer something besides the popcorn and peanuts of eco-
nomic development. They also offer a prize — Smart Growth.
By transforming downtrodden downtowns into desirable desti-
nations, Main Streets not only give communities an economic shot
in the arm, they also give them a new tool to manage both commer-
cial and residential growth — whether they know it or not. “Every
community comes to it from a different direction,” says Smith, now
a principal with the Community Land Use and Economics Group.
Some recognize the Main Street approach as a Smart Growth strat-
egy and treat it that way. In most communities, though, the link
between Main Streets and Smart Growth remains “a happy coinci-
dence,” she says.


In Connecticut, for instance, the power company spreading as Main Street initiatives — both new
started a statewide Main Street program because it and old — begin to include more housing, says
wanted to spark growth in places where it already Smith. And why not? Downtown residential growth
provided service and douse demand for new con- not only offers a potential alternative to sprawl, it
nections outside of town, says Smith. “They were generates more customers for downtown mer-
Smart Growth advocates without realizing it,” she chants, she notes.
says. Consider Burlington, Iowa, population 26,500.
Either way, if done right, Main Street initiatives Perched on the banks of the Mississippi River in
promote key principles of Smart Growth — including the southeast corner of the state, Burlington was

If done right, Main Street initiatives promote
key principles of Smart Growth.

Burlington, Iowa

density, walkability and infill — with both a carrot once a bustling steamboat port and booming rail-
and a stick. The carrot is a rejuvenated business road hub. But that was 100 years ago. Over time —
district that attracts people and development alike and under pressure from a new shopping mall —
and makes the entire community more prosperous the city’s once-thriving downtown slowly declined.
and appealing. The stick is a set of zoning regula- Burlington’s nadir came in 1980 when the once
tions that force — or at least strongly steer — devel- prestigious Hotel Burlington — or the H tel
opment toward Main Street rather than letting it Burlingto as locals dubbed it after letters started
ooze to the outskirts of town and beyond. disappearing from its sign — closed, says Smith.
Smith can point to many communities that are Fed up with being boarded up, Burlington
making all the right moves, using Main Street launched a Main Street initiative in 1986 that
strategies to rekindle traditional business districts steadily turned downtown around. In the begin-
while at the same time fostering Smart Growth. It’s ning, that meant restoring downtown’s retail pulse
a two-birds-with-one-stone game plan that’s by forming public-private partnerships, recruiting


hundreds of volunteers and encouraging commu-
nity-based investment to redevelop hundreds of
once-proud properties in need of some TLC — and
tenants.
Now, however, it’s time to reassess where new
opportunities lie, says Val Giannettino, executive
director of Downtown Partners Inc., which man-
ages the town’s Main Street program. “We have to
reinvent ourselves,” she says.
Taking its cue from a statewide push to promote
downtown living, Burlington is adding more and
more housing to its downtown mix, says
Giannettino. Yes, she admits, uttering Iowa and
downtown living in the same breath sounds akin
to associating Manhattan with corn fields, but that
doesn’t bother Burlington. “We have a downtown
that would welcome all kinds of people,” says
Giannettino. “We have tons of room to grow.”
The story of Schramm’s Department Store sym-
bolizes Burlington’s possible new future. After
anchoring downtown Burlington for more than
150 years, Schramm’s closed in 1996 and sat
vacant until a developer converted it into a mixed-
use building with commercial tenants below and
13 upscale condominiums — featuring expansive
views of the river — above. “When people tour the
building, they are blown away,” says Giannettino.
The Schramm’s project followed in the foot-
steps of downtown Burlington’s first big residen-
tial project — the use of tax credits to help convert
the Hotel Burlington into 75 units of senior hous- Littleton, N.H.
ing in 1998. Now, with the help of a $615,000 fed-
eral grant, three downtown property owners are
converting the upper floors of their commercial
buildings into a dozen affordable housing units,
says Giannettino. We have a downtown
The tax credits and grant, while welcome, point
to one of the biggest hurdles facing many Main that would welcome all
Street towns as they pursue residential growth.
“The greatest challenge is cost,” says Giannettino.
kinds of people...and
“There is a short list of people here with the
money to do those kinds of projects.”
tons of room to grow.
The other challenge involves geography.
Burlington is not within commuting distance of a
metropolitan area or its suburbs and offers limited robust residential market, says Ruth Taylor, direc-
ways for people to earn a living. Still, the potential tor of the community’s Main Street program.
to absorb residential growth downtown is enor- Littleton, a 220-year-old town outside White
mous as numerous classic brick warehouses stand Mountain National Forest in the northwest part of
empty along the river waiting for a second life. the state, launched its Main Street program in
“We’re poised and very ready for growth,” says 1997 after being hit hard by the loss of manufac-
Giannettino. turing jobs. At one point, residents saw 17 vacant
Littleton, NH, is another Main Street town storefronts every time they went downtown. With
where housing is becoming a bigger part of the community-funded facade improvements, special
downtown mix. In Littleton’s case, demand is events and market research providing the initial
strong as a housing crunch — fueled in part by the momentum, the Main Street approach soon
area’s recreational attractions — has created a helped pull Littleton out of its tailspin.


We like to see a mix of
uses downtown and
housing is part of that.
Littleton Main Street, N.H.

Having regained its commercial health, down- housing is part of that,” says Phil Meyer, director of
town Littleton is entering a new stage as the hot community and neighborhood services. Also in the
housing market and a glut of office space are driv- mix are a growing number of new restaurants and
ing the conversion of upper-floor offices into apart- galleries complementing traditional retail and
ments, says Taylor. “More would be great,” she service business — a trend symbolized by the open-
notes. ing of a brew pub in a former hardware store.
Still, density can be a hard sell in a state where Located just west of Grand Rapids a few miles
“zoning almost doesn’t exist” and the official motto from the shores of Lake Michigan, Holland, popu-
is “Live free or die,” says Taylor. A proposal to build lation 33,000, kicked off its Main Street initiative in
clustered housing within walking distance of 1984 to counter competition from a series of pro-
downtown was rejected at the town meeting two posed outlying shopping malls. “Downtown was, I
years ago, she says. The decision came despite the wouldn’t saying dying, but it was tired and strug-
fact that sprawl is a very real threat, says Taylor. gling quite a bit at the time with the changing pat-
“Unless you’ve lived in a city, you don’t understand terns of shopping,” says Meyer.
the value of dense housing,” she says. Things heated up — literally — in 1988. That’s
Founded in the 1840s by Dutch settlers, when the Main Street Committee spearheaded a
Holland, Mich., is a Main Street town with a comprehensive public-private streetscape project
diverse and growing mix of downtown housing beautifying downtown’s main drag and installing a
options, including housing for students and staff network of pipes below the pavement that provide
from Hope College, two large senior-housing com- radiant heat to keep a five-block area of downtown
plexes, a pair of upscale condo communities and ice- and snow-free during the winter.
numerous apartments above storefronts. One of the challenges facing any Main Street
“We like to see a mix of uses downtown and initiative is the need to provide ongoing support. In


Holland, a Downtown Development Authority vehicle for the long haul came recently when a
(DDA) appointed by the city council supports the shopping mall that had once threatened down-
Main Street initiative by assessing property own- town Holland and inspired the downtown’s revi-
ers to provide management and maintenance talization went bankrupt. “They lost out not only
services. The DDA also collects an assessment to to downtown, but also to another shopping mall
provide free customer and employee parking. In built further away,” says Meyer.
addition, assessments to fund marketing and pro-
motion are collected via a state-authorized princi- Brad Broberg is a Seattle-based freelance writer special-
pal shopping district. izing in business and development issues. His work
appears regularly in the Puget Sound Business Journal
Proof that Main Street initiatives provide a
and the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.

THE NATIONAL TRUST MAIN STREET CENTER is the nation’s clear-
inghouse for information, technical assistance, research and advocacy
related to commercial district revitalization and preservation — all
based on the center’s trademark Main Street Four-Point Approach.
Design: Enhance the physical appearance of the commercial district by
rehabilitating historic buildings, encouraging supportive new construc-
tion, developing sensitive design management systems and promoting
long-term planning.
Organization: Build consensus and cooperation among the many
groups and individuals that have a role in the revitalization process.
Promotion: Market the traditional commercial district’s assets to cus-
tomers, potential investors, new businesses, local citizens and visitors.
Economic restructuring: Strengthen the district’s existing economic
base while founding ways to expand it to meet new opportunities —
and challenges — from outlying development.
Source: National Trust Main Street Center of the National Trust for Historic
Preservation (www.mainstreet.org).


The Code Word is
Building codes
are reflecting
the demand
for revamping
older structures
SMART
growth
By John Van Gieson


T
he historic city of Newark, New Jersey’s
largest, had fallen on hard times. Racked
by a deadly riot in 1967, Newark spiraled
downward into decay, poverty and crime. Its
population plummeted from a peak of 473,000
in 1950 to about 273,000 currently.
But today, Newark is going through a
remarkable renaissance assisted in large part by
a New Jersey building code facilitating renova-
tion of older buildings. Known as the
“Rehabilitation Subcode,” the new code in
Jersey was designed to remove the barriers that
made revitalization of vacant and underutilized
older buildings prohibitively expensive and
ridiculously complicated.
In the Garden State, a densely populated
state where half the housing stock was built
before 1959, that’s a very good idea.
“The Rehabilitation Subcode has led to a
‘rehabilitation renaissance’ in New Jersey,”
said Susan Bass Levin, commissioner of the
state’s Department of Community Affairs.
“Because the Rehabilitation Subcode eliminates
unnecessary regulatory barriers to the reuse of
existing older buildings, projects throughout the
state that were once overlooked by developers
are finding new life and expanding housing and
job opportunities for New Jersey residents.”
Smart building codes promoting rehabilita-
tion of older buildings have become a valuable
Smart Growth tool. Maryland adopted a smart
building code based largely on the New Jersey
experience, followed by Rhode Island, New
York and other states. Cities that have adopted
smart buildings codes include Wilmington,
Delaware; Wichita, Kansas; and Kansas City,
Missouri.
Existing building codes typically impose
requirements that make sense in new buildings
but may impede reuse of older buildings.
“Local codes and regulations often act as
impediments to Smart Growth, urban revitaliza-
tion and livable communities,” said Ed


McMahon, a senior resident fellow at the Urban Concerns that rehabilitation codes may compro-
Land Institute. “Developers who would protect the mise the safety of older buildings is also a factor, but
environment or restore a historic building are often smart building code advocates say it shouldn’t be.
stymied by inflexible regulations.” “All of the rehabilitation codes that I know of
“While these laws differ in their specifics, they have very high standards as far as safety require-
all share a recognition that while older buildings ments go,” Hopkins said.
need to meet standards for safety and accessibility Given the slow pace at which rehab codes are
(just as new buildings do), they can be evaluated being adopted, it will take years before other states
and regulated differently,” McMahon said. catch up to New Jersey.
Smart Growth advocates, building code organiza- Toward the end of the last century, Newark
tions, historic preservationists and home builders all appeared headed for a place on the scrap heap of
extol the virtues of smart building codes promoting wasted cities. To its advantage, however, Newark
revitalization of older buildings, but the movement had a large supply of fundamentally sound old
has been relatively slow to catch on. buildings that with the right tools could be convert-

Smart building codes promoting rehabilitation
of older buildings have become a valuable Smart
Growth tool.
The best available information on the number of
jurisdictions using smart building codes comes
from the International Code Council (ICC), which
adopted its model International Existing Building
Code in 2003.
Shortly after New Jersey adopted its new code in
1997, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development developed its model code, the
Nationally Applicable Recommended Rehabilitation
Provisions (NARRP) for use by other jurisdictions.
The ICC drew heavily on HUD’s model code in
developing its code for rehabilitation of existing
buildings. The National Fire Protection Association
has also developed a model rehabilitation code.
“With the endorsement of the two national groups
at the core of code writing, we’ll hopefully
see more state and local jurisdictions adopting reha-
bilitation codes,” said Johns Hopkins, executive
director of Baltimore Heritage, a historic preserva-
tion organization.
The ICC reported that four states have adopted
its existing building code: Michigan, Montana,
New Mexico and West Virginia. Local
governments have adopted the ICC code in 12
other states.
HUD spokesman Brian E. Sullivan said it comes
as no surprise that local officials have been slow to
adopt new building codes promoting rehabilitation
of existing buildings. “Adoption of a new code for-
mat takes many years to be fully accepted in the
thousands of local jurisdictions that adopt codes,”
he said. “Also many communities have not adopted
an existing building code but rely on their regular
building code.”


ed into the centerpieces of a dynamic, revitalized
city. The New Jersey Rehabilitation Subcode
helped to provide those tools, along with the open-
ing of the $187 million New Jersey Performing
Arts Center in downtown Newark in 1997. For the
first time in years, New Jersey residents had a rea-
son to reconsider Newark.
Many existing homes have been or are being
rehabilitated in the city’s residential areas, and sev-
eral major redevelopment projects are planned for
downtown Newark, including:
•Clinton Street Lofts, a 10-story Beaux Arts office
building constructed in 1906 that is being converted
into apartments renting for $800 to $1,375 a month.
•Hahne-Griffith, an old department store and
next-door office building that are being converted
into 266 apartments.
•National Newark Building, the city’s tallest at
465 feet, an Art Deco office building that opened in
1931, that was converted into a high-tech office
tower where cheaper rents are luring tenants across
the Hudson River from New York.

•1180 Raymond Boulevard, a vacant 448-foot
Art Deco office building being converted into 195
market-rate apartments and 315 apartments for
Seton Hall University Law School students.
The National Newark and 1180 Raymond
Boulevard renovations are projects of Cogswell
Realty Group, which is spending $180 million to
renovate the historic skyscrapers in the heart of
Newark. Cogswell has taken the lead in investing
in the new downtown Newark.
The Rehabilitation Subcode was an important
factor in redeveloping Newark, Jersey City and
other New Jersey cities, said William M. Connolly,
director of the New Jersey Division of Codes and
Standards. In the first year after the code was

The New Jersey code was
specifically designed to
remove barriers...that were
discouraging renovation
of old buildings.


adopted, rehabilitation spending in the state’s five the extent to which the project had to comply with
largest cities increased by 60 percent, compared to building codes. If the value was between 25 and 50
1.6 percent the previous year. percent, all of the rehabilitation work had to con-
“The (1180 Raymond Boulevard) project archi- form to the building codes. If it was greater than 50
tect told us that without the new code it would not percent, the entire building had to be brought up to
have been feasible,” he said. code.
The New Jersey code was specifically designed The old New Jersey code went even farther,
to remove barriers, such as requiring renovators to requiring full compliance with light, ventilation,
widen hallways, that were discouraging renovation egress and fire safety provisions if the rehabilita-
of old buildings. It creates four distinct categories, tion involved more than 5 percent of the building’s
repair, alteration, addition and change of occupan- floor space.
cy, with separate rules for each. There was a certain amount of flexibility in the
New Jersey, along with many other jurisdictions, old code, but flexibility is frequently incompatible
used to apply the “25/50 Rule” to rehabilitation with bureaucracy.
projects. If the estimated cost of the rehabilitation “Codes are ultimately enforced by human beings
work was less than 25 percent of the building’s and some peoples’ interpretations vary and that’s
value, building officials had flexibility to determine what it is,” Hopkins said. “That aspect of it has not

Local governments that
embrace the code are
rewarded with financial
incentives.


Smart Growth
cannot work
if you cannot
build, if people
cannot reuse,
and if people
cannot redevelop.

changed with Smart Codes; it’s
still enforced and interpreted by
human beings, but what we said
we were setting out to do (in
Maryland) was codify common
sense.”
Maryland built on the New
Jersey experience in 2000 when
it adopted a building rehabilita-
tion code known as Smart
Codes. Local governments that
embrace the code are rewarded
with financial incentives.
The Maryland incentives
include priority for participating
in state funding programs, his-
toric preservation tax credits,
and refunding up to 20 percent
of the cost of rehabilitation.
“It made huge numbers of
projects feasible that were not
feasible before the refunds when
into effect,” said Harriett governments need to make it possible for builders to
Tregoning, chair of the Smart Growth Leadership convert old buildings to new uses. Ultimately, Smart
Institute. She is the former director of the Growth cannot work if you cannot build, if people
Maryland Office of Smart Growth. cannot reuse, and if people cannot redevelop.”
Even political groups are endorsing smart
building codes. In an article on its Web site, the John Van Gieson is a freelance writer based in
New Democrats Online concluded, “In order to Tallahassee, Florida. He owns and runs Van Gieson
save our stock of historic housing, state and local Media Relations, Inc.


new
What once was old is now

By Jason Miller

Transforming I
n the evolution of retail, shopping malls as we know them
represent the end of an era. Increasingly, underperforming
or obsolete malls — a.k.a. “greyfield” sites — are going the
way of the dinosaur and being replaced by mixed-use neighbor-

greyfield sites hoods, which allow residents to reach many of their daily needs
by simply taking a short walk from their residences. Shops,
restaurants, transit links, parks, offices, cultural buildings such
as libraries and other needs of modern life are situated near res-

into new idential choices that include single-family homes, apartments,
condominiums and live/work buildings.
Greyfields are becoming an increasingly common sight in the
American landscape, the most common iteration of which is the

communities conventional strip mall whose anchor tenant has moved out or
whose bottom line has succumbed to the pressures of competi-
tion from discount stores, Internet commerce and newer malls in
newer suburbs. In its 2001 study by PricewaterhouseCoopers,
the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) reported that 19 per-
cent of the nation’s 2,000 regional malls were in greyfield status
or vulnerable to becoming so, having sales per square foot of
$150 or less (one-third the rate of sales at a successful mall).
Other studies have estimated between 4,000 and 5,500 smaller
greyfield malls nationally.

Resources for revival
The CNU maintains certain principles for success when
transforming greyfields into desirable places:
• Evolve the site from a single structure into a district
with subdistricts
• Establish a street pattern
• Reorient activity to face the street
• Connect with the surrounding community
• Integrate multiple uses
• Design for human scale
• Include housing
• Customize to fit local needs
But following these principles can be a challenge for munici-
palities that are uncertain how to proceed or unaware of the
resources available to them. One such resource is the third phase
Left and above: Belmar in Lakewood, Colo. of the CNU greyfields study, slated for release in summer 2005.


Following up on the first two phases, which identi- become a bustling, vibrant downtown district for
fied the greyfields problem and presented case Lakewood, which had no such district before the
studies on in-progress projects, the third-phase renovation effort began.
report aims to serve as a guide for property owners, The recipient of a 2005 CNU Charter Award,
developers, city officials and other community Belmar is approximately 40 percent complete at
leaders to use in analyzing greyfields in their press time, with build-out scheduled for another
neighborhoods. The report encourages an open- seven to 10 years. It represents the cumulative will
minded approach to greyfield redevelopment, stat- of the city of Lakewood and its residents, who clam-
ing that a mixed-use neighborhood is not always ored for a downtown, an identity for the city, says
the best strategy for renewal; often, renovation or Will Fleissig, director for planning and design with
reuse are more feasible approaches. For more infor- Continuum Partners LLC, the project’s developer.
mation on the study, visit the CNU Web site at “The community had a very clear vision about
www.cnu.org. what it wanted,” says Fleissig. “And now the vision
Greyfield projects are booming, according to has national implications. We took a 1.4-million-
New Urban News, a New Urbanist newsletter square-foot mall and worked with the city to down-
based in Ithaca, New York. In late 2003 it counted size the retail and make the site denser without cre-
43 infill, greyfield and brownfield developments in ating a burden on the existing street — the transit
its annual list of New Urban projects. The more lines allowed this. If you can increase a site’s den-
mature greyfield redevelopment projects are the sity by two or three times while not increasing the
beneficiaries of committed local city governments, burden on the adjoining roads, well, that’s what we
and are following New Urbanist principles to much need to be doing in America — especially in the
success. inner-ring suburbs.”
In order to get out of the ground, however,
Belmar Belmar needed more than political and community
Lakewood, Colorado will. “To create a downtown, you need to create
One of the more sweeping greyfield transforma- some kind of structured parking, and that can be
tions in the nation, Belmar is a mixed-use renova- difficult to afford,” says Fleissig. “The city worked
tion and redevelopment of the failing Villa Italia with us on investment that allowed for the new
mall in Lakewood — Colorado’s fourth-largest city. sales tax revenues from the project to be garnered
Composed of 23 city blocks (104 acres), Belmar has for the roads, the trees, the parking. It was a perfect
financing solution — and it worked.”

The market at Belmar

Greyfield projects are
booming, according to
New Urban News.


Belmar in Lakewood, Colo.

Local response to Belmar has been encourag-
ing, says Fleissig. “We’re seeing quite a bit of rein- It feels like a real
vestment around the site — a resurgence in devel-
opment in the vicinity. There’s at least a half
downtown — and it’s
dozen of these types of development nearby, try-
ing to leverage our success.”
only been created in
Belmar has only recently opened up its first res- the last year.
idential offerings, but even in these early stages,
the home-buying public likes what it sees, says
Steve Jones, a REALTOR® with Denver-based “The people who visit on the weekends are
Kentwood City Properties. “We’re presently sell- overwhelmed at how many people are out and
ing 12 loft-style condos in a mixed-use building, a about, enjoying the space,” says Jones. “In my
more modern style and type which is pretty much opinion, five years down the road, Belmar is going
the first of its kind in Lakewood. Out of those 12 to be used as a model across the country for how
units, we’ve closed four and have four more under to do a huge infill project out of a mall. It feels like
contract. a real downtown — and it’s only been created in
“The response has been really good, and even the last year.”
though some people look in and find the modern
loft concept a little too harsh, the people who have Santana Row
bought these properties are just blown away by San Jose, California
having someone offer something this contempo- Santana Row started with a bang. In August
rary in Lakewood. The buyers tend to be young, 2002, barely a year into its construction and a
single, professional people who can’t afford to live mere month before its scheduled grand opening,
in downtown Denver, but want the feel of an urban an unexplained fire erupted, torching 34 apart-
loft.” ment units in the development. It was the largest
The Belmar loft condos are selling for $239,000 fire in San Jose history, and it put a damper on
to $255,000. All are 1,020 square feet and offer one Santana Row’s momentum, pushing the grand
bedroom with a study or a den, plus a bathroom, opening out to the end of 2002.
private outdoor spaces, garage parking and addi- Borrowing its name from Santana Park, a near-
tional storage. by half-acre park that eventually will be incorpo-


A place where residents can live, eat, shop, stay,
and play — without ever getting in their cars.
rated into the project, the 42-acre Santana Row is 18-plus restaurants — many from San Francisco,
the largest mixed-use project ever built in San Jose. like Blowfish Sushi and the Straits Café — are get-
At $1 billion, its price tag bears that out. In its past ting great reviews, and a traditional farmers’ mar-
life, Santana Row was the Town & Country Mall, a ket helps to leaven the scene with a bit of down-to-
conventional, single-story strip mall that had suf- earth flavor.
fered from reduced patronage and sales tax rev- Cutting-edge technology inclusions mix well
enue. In March 1997, Maryland-based developer with the elegant European ambience here. The res-
Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT) purchased idential dwelling units offer broadband Internet
the property, razing the mall and beginning con- access, wireless capabilities, 500-channel DirectTV,
struction in 2001. This paved the way for a new, and multi-line phone service. A high-tech, 24-hour
mixed-use development that FRIT contends will fitness center hosts residents. At the same time, two
provide a “unique mix of shopping, dining, enter- parks are just a stroll away, outfitted with outdoor
tainment and living, designed to enhance the indi- chess, an outdoor theater, splashing fountains and
vidual experience.” eye-candy landscaping.
So far, that prediction has held true. Modeled These condo properties were available for sale
after a typical European urban space, Santana Row mere days before this article went to press. But with
boasts high-density, mixed-use buildings that wall-to-wall amenities only steps away from resi-
house every urban amenity imaginable — includ- dents’ doorsteps, few can doubt the sales potential.
ing the 213-room Hotel Valencia and a 12-screen Already, Santana is generating sales tax revenue
cinema. The raw numbers alone are impressive: for the city of San Jose and the numbers are rising
• 558,000 square ft. of retail (680,000 sq. ft. at steadily.
completion) Like most redevelopment projects of its scale,
• 501 residential units, of which 219 are condos though, Santana Row has not been without contro-
(1,201 residential units at completion) versy. While some observers hail it as a model for
Retail options at Santana Row are decidedly Smart Growth, others have criticized it for compet-
upscale, but many offer their wares to residents for ing too aggressively with San Jose’s newly revital-
a discount. Walk down the pedestrian-friendly ized downtown — just 3 . 5 miles away — and
main street and you’ll see more than 100 stores, another neighboring retail concern, the Valley Fair
with names such as Gucci, Diesel, Ann Taylor, Mall. But Santana Row’s retail tenants dispute this
Burberry, Anthropologie, and Crate & Barrel. The concern, saying those claims are unwarranted, that
the development is filling a retail
Santana Row, San Jose, Calif.
niche that will attract a different
market segment: one that will
respond to Santana Row’s promise
of a place where residents can live,
eat, shop, stay and play — without
ever getting in their cars.

Bayshore
Glendale, Wisconsin
Built in 1955, the Bayshore
Mall in Glendale, Wis., is about to
get a new lease on life. In need of
serious renovations, the mall
struggled to compete in the
changing marketplace of south-
eastern Wisconsin.
Since many residents in the
area leave the state and travel to
the Chicago area, where there is a


Santana Row, San Jose, Calif.

wider variety of retail options, developer Steiner + square feet of office space and 150,000 square feet
Associates saw an opportunity to bring upscale of entertainment space, including several restau-
retail to the region. In addition, Glendale, a com- rants and a possible comedy club and/or art the-
munity minutes from downtown Milwaukee, was ater complex. Also included in the mixed-use proj-
in need of its own town center to attract visitors ect is a residential component that will consist of
from all over the state and bring Glendale a better 81 townhouse condominiums and 120 upscale
sense of community. apartments. A one-acre “town square” park will
The owner of the mall, Dallas-based Corrigan also grace Bayshore, providing a suitable locale
Holdings, partnered with the city of Glendale’s for public gatherings, concerts and possibly ice
Community Development Authority, which pro- skating.
vided crucial public funding to move the $300- At press time, Bayshore had begun its construc-
million project through the planning stages and tion phase. The project is slated for completion in
into the construction phase. “This is an exciting fall 2006.
time for the city of Glendale and its surrounding
Reclaiming the land
communities,” says Glendale Mayor Jay Hintze.
“Over the next few years, Bayshore Mall will be Belmar, Santana Row and Bayshore are just
transformed into a community gathering place — three examples of a nationwide effort to transform
a town center that we’ve never seen before. The troubled properties into vibrant places where peo-
evolution of the new Bayshore Mall will be excit- ple want to live, work and play. As malls and other
ing to watch and will have a tremendous impact large-scale developments buckle under their own
on the city of Glendale and the entire North unsustainable weight or unforeseen market forces,
Shore area.” more opportunities should arise for knowledge-
When complete, Bayshore will combine its able city officials, developers, community leaders
open-air, town-square-style components with a and REALTORS® to reclaim the land, fix the mis-
revitalized, enclosed mall component, offering 1.2 takes or simply move a property toward its next
million square feet of retail space. Retail choices incarnation — hopefully, one that will last longer
will range from large anchor tenants like Boston and contribute more to its community.
Store, Sears and Kohl’s Department Store to many
Jason Miller is a freelance writer, editor and publishing
smaller retailers. Bayshore will include 180,000
consultant based in St. Paul, Minnesota.


Small towns are drawing population,
but they too must practice Smart Growth By Brad Broberg

Walworth County, Lake Geneva, Wis.

attractions of the small town
I
n the ebb and flow of American population Growth advocates, Feinberg and Tittas are passion-
trends, many older towns and small cities have ate about fostering redevelopment — social, eco-
been treading water. However, as many people nomic and physical — in the small cities west of the
now search for lifestyle options, those communities Washington/Baltimore metro area. “These are great
are in a position to play a leading role in managing old towns that have sort of been preserved in amber
growth. for decades,” says Feinberg. “They are places that
So says longtime planner and designer Alan were once real places that have fallen on hard
Feinberg. Feinberg is convinced that helping “over- times and they need to reinvent themselves.”
the-hill” towns and cities become more desirable One such place is Hagerstown, MD. A blue-collar
places to live can spell the difference between con- city of 37,000, Hagerstown sits smack dab in front of
tinued — and wasteful — consumption of open the sprawl that is spreading westward from the
space and a more thoughtful and sustainable coast. Not long ago, Hagerstown took a giant step
approach to growth. toward reinventing its future when the University of
Together with veteran contractor Nick Tittas, Maryland chose downtown Hagerstown as the site
Feinberg founded Central Maryland Development for a new branch campus. “That’s the best economic
Inc. (CMD) to practice what he preaches. As Smart engine you could have,” says Feinberg.


They are places that
have fallen on hard
times…they need to
reinvent themselves.
Optimistic about Hagerstown’s potential, CMD
purchased a 4,000-square-foot building at a key
downtown location and is converting it into a com-
bination office/condominium. It is the first of
many such projects CMD hopes to tackle and/or
encourage others to tackle in downtown
Hagerstown.
Not long ago, CMD convened the “Hagerstown
Initiative,” a gathering of more than 20 planning
and development types who sympathize with
CMD’s vision — not just for Hagerstown but for
the country in general. “There are enough exam-
ples all around to see the problem with just doing
it the way it’s always been done — it’s not dense
enough and it doesn’t pay for itself,” says
Feinberg. “Water lines, sewer lines, schools…it
just doesn’t cover the costs.”
The same dynamic driving Feinberg’s efforts in
Maryland — the outgoing tide of metro popula-
tions — is at work at many other places around the
country. In many cases, it’s occurring in similar
counties — those on the edge of major metropoli-
tan areas. Walworth County, Wis., is one of those
Growth. In the meantime, the county has passed a
places.
Conservation Subdivision Ordinance that pro-
Squeezed between Milwaukee and Chicago —
vides incentives to developers who build clustered
both less than an hour away — the county’s many
housing such as the Sugar Creek Preserve, a 52-
lakes and rural charms have long made it a popu-
home subdivision that leaves 175 acres as open
lar vacation escape for metro residents. Now, more
space.
and more of them are starting to make Walworth
Compared to Walworth County, Chaffee
County their permanent home. The county’s pop-
County, Colo., would seem to have little to fear
ulation of 97,000 is expected to grow by 25 percent
from sprawl. The nearest large city, Pueblo, is 100
over the next 15 years, which will put pressure on
miles away and Denver is 140 miles away.
the agricultural open space surrounding the coun-
Nevertheless, growth is a pressing issue.
ty’s cities and villages, says Michael Cotter, direc-
Nestled between the 14,000-foot peaks of the
tor of the county’s land-use and resource manage-
Rocky Mountains, Chaffee County sits in the high
ment department.
-and-dry Arkansas River Valley and has been
“As a rule, the county wants to retain its agricul-
growing at a rapid pace as more and more people
tural character,” says Cotter. “I think that most
discover its natural beauty and recreational attrac-
people have that interest at heart. The (municipal-
tions. While the county’s actual population gain
ities) are very interested in attracting growth and
may seem small — an increase from 12,684 in
doing infill.”
1990 to more than 17,000 today — the percentage
To help make that happen, Walworth County’s
gain is not — 34 percent.
various jurisdictions — cities, villages, unincorpo-
Certainly, Chaffee County has plenty of room
rated townships and the county itself — have
within its 1,015 square miles to accommodate
formed a committee to work on their state-man-
many more residents, but that’s not the point, says
dated comprehensive plans together to ensure
Kathy Leinz, co-county administrator. “We don’t
they are not at cross-purposes when it comes to
want to lose the quality of life that people have
discouraging sprawl and encouraging Smart


come and stayed here for,” she says. that describes the rise, fall and rise again of rural
Chaffee County is working closely with the populations in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
county’s three towns to pursue a new land-use Between 1990 and 1998, 71 percent of the nation’s
strategy intended to ensure most of the county’s rural counties gained population, reported
wide open spaces remain wide and open. “We want Johnson. The total gain was 3.6 million people,
to focus growth around the towns, says Don Reimer, who Johnson described as a mixed lot of “retirees,
planning director. blue-collar workers, lone-eagle professionals and
The problem — not just for Chaffee County but disenchanted city dwellers.” Since that time, the
for outlying counties everywhere — is that people rate of growth has slowed, but the trend continues,
don’t necessarily want to live in or around a town he says.
when they move from a metro area. “They want While Johnson’s research targeted county popu-
acreage,” says Ken Johnson, a demographer and lation trends, he also gained considerable insight
professor of sociology at Loyola University of into the realities governing the ability of small
Chicago. towns to capture growth and curb sprawl. “It
Johnson is the author of “The Rural Rebound,” a depends on how powerful the planning boards and
special report for the Population Reference Bureau community leaders are about addressing what’s
happening to their land, says Johnson. Not only
that, but small towns must provide people with rea-
sons to live there — especially jobs if the towns are
located beyond commuting range from a metro
area. “Would they like growth? Yes,” says Johnson.
“Are they going to get it? Probably not without
amenities.”
One way some small towns are making them-
selves more attractive is to use the Main Street
approach to bring back the traditional. In Hercules,
Calif., a Bay Area suburb of 20,000 that never had
a traditional downtown, public-private partner-
ships are creating a Town Center as well as a 167-
acre Waterfront Quarter featuring four neighbor-

The county
wants to
retain its
agricultural
character…
most people
have that
interest
at heart.
Hagerstown, Md.


Oktoberfest in Lake Geneva, Wis.

We don’t want to lose the quality of life that
people have come and stayed here for.
hoods with narrow tree-lined streets and distinct and the parcel must be connected to municipal
architecture. water and sewer services. Now, that decision has
“If you’re looking for a placeless California come back to haunt the county in the form of
bedroom suburb implementing Smart Growth… sprawl. “The precedent was set a while back and
this is it,” said Steve Lawton, Hercules planning it’s hard to get the pendulum to swing back.” says
director, in a case study published on the Local L’Estrange. “For some of these ranchers (the
Government Commission Web site. opportunity to subdivide) is their retirement
And then there’s the Chaffee County town of fund.”
Buena Vista, population 2,500. There, the brother- Together with the county, Buena Vista and
sister development team of Jed and Kate Selby other cities have been working on intergovern-
have purchased 40 acres along the Arkansas River mental agreements that would encourage a more
and are building a New Urbanism community in concentrated approach to ranch-land develop-
an Old West town, mingling various types of hous- ment and ensure that less of the landscape is
ing, businesses and — since the Selbys are avid freckled with homes.
kayakers — a whitewater kayak park. “What we’re trying to do is guide develop-
Called South Main, the community has room ment,” said L’Estrange.“We want it to stay out of
for 800 new residents. “We’re pretty excited this the hillsides and open ranch spaces. Tourism is
has come along,” said Jerry L’Estrange, the com- probably the county’s number one industry. If we
munity’s town administrator. “It puts a significant begin to look like everybody else in the country,
amount of housing in a confined space and helps who will want to come and visit us?”
negate some of the sprawl.”
About 20 years ago, Chaffee County began Brad Broberg is a Seattle-based freelance writer special-
allowing ranchers to subdivide their land as long izing in business and development issues. His work
appears regularly in the Puget Sound Business Journal
as each parcel is at least two acres — any smaller
and the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.


V
acant properties belong high on
the list of things most likely to
damage a neighborhood — some-
times irreparably. An empty house or
building decreases surrounding property
values, reduces tax revenues, raises
municipal costs, attracts crime and poses
a fire hazard. Add to these quantifiable
challenges the very real psychological
damage done to residents living in dis-
tressed neighborhoods and you have a
formula for blight in every sense of the
word.
The problem is pervasive. While the
northeast and Midwest U.S. have higher
levels of vacancies, there are isolated
and scattered pockets of abandonment in
virtually all cities or metro areas — even
in fast-growing cities like Las Vegas, San
Diego and Tucson.

Strategies and solutions
The problem of vacant properties is
dire, but several key organizations and
progressive cities and states have joined
forces to find solutions. One of the fore-
most players is the National Vacant
Properties Campaign (NVPC), which is
run by Smart Growth America (SGA), the
International City/County Management
Association (ICMA) and the Local
Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).
Formally launched in July 2003, the
NVPC advocates a synergistic approach
to vacant properties, says Joe Schilling,
professor in practice at the Metropolitan
Institute at Virginia Tech in Alexandria,
Va. and one of the original founders of
NVPC who now directs the research and
policy programs for the campaign.
“Once each year, we try to gather
together roughly 100 people — practi-
tioners, local government or community
development organizations, private sec-

NoVac
tor folks, academics, researchers and
public officials. At first we just wanted to
share with them the purposes of the
campaign and also brainstorm ways they
can get involved, and get guidance from
them about what they think the cam-
paign should be doing and how best they
could use its resources to help them revi-
talize vacant properties.”

Cities struggle to reclaim

“Based on their input, we’ve solidified a fourfold
mission:
1. Build a connected network of practitioners,
policy makers and researchers. We want peo-
ple to know there are other people working on
the same problem.
2. Collect the latest information, research and
best practices, and act as a clearinghouse for
that information.
3. Develop a communication infrastructure — a
Web site (www.vacantproperties.org), listserv,
e-newsletter and more.

4. Provide technical assistance; i.e., guidance on
what strategies and tools a particular commu-
nity should use to revitalize vacant properties.
“A lot of the practitioners tend to focus on the
technical aspects of vacant property revitalization.
Others look at the problem through the lens of
broader policies related to Smart Growth, commu-
nity development and regional equity.
Intellectually, they recognize that these elements
are all connected, but they tend to look at vacant
properties through one lens or the other. Part of our
mission is to give them that big picture, saying, you

ancies
really have to look at both of those dimensions of
vacant properties to be successful.”
Various approaches can be taken to deal with
vacant properties, such as demolition and rehabilita-
tion, brownfields initiatives, historic preservation and
Smart Growth tax incentives, infill development and
adaptive reuse. Generally speaking, code enforce-
ment programs are one of the more successful tactics
abandoned properties By Jason Miller


currently being used. “The thinking here is that if Not surprisingly, a lack of public funding some-
you bring a building up to code, it will remain occu- times complicates the situation, says Schilling.
pied,” says Schilling. “Outside of the EPA’s brownfields money, there’s
But Schilling cautions against adopting code very little dedicated federal funding.”
enforcement in a vacuum. “That’s kind of the rub Some form of public funding is arguably imper-
right now in a lot of cities,” he says. “Don’t just do ative, however, since development in urban set-
enforcement alone; it needs to be done in conjunc- tings is typically more expensive than development
tion with housing rehabilitation programs and on a greenfield site. Title problems, possible envi-
resources” in order to achieve lasting success. ronmental clean-up costs, reluctant lenders — all
affect the ability of a private developer to turn a
Stubborn challenges profit or even break even. “Public funds are neces-
But even with solid resources at one’s fingertips, sary in order to help support the infrastructure for
it can be a challenge to begin the process of reclaiming the property,” says Schilling. “Then,
reclaiming an abandoned property. Determining when you get to the stage of reuse, you need some
property ownership is often the most difficult ele- public funds in order to support the urban pioneers
ment, says Jennifer Leonard, director of the NVPC. — the community development corporations, the
“Even if you find the person who you think owns small developers — the sorts of people who are the
the property, they may have passed away and not first people back into a distressed neighborhood.
had a will. If you find people who simply walked Public funds will help these pioneers to redevelop
away from the property, they might think they don’t those first few properties and get a foothold so the
own it anymore. The picture isn’t always this bleak, market can take over.”
but that’s usually one of the big hurdles.”
Successful REALTOR® involvement in Baltimore
In Baltimore, Md., a coordinated public-private
partnership is playing out. Over the past 50 years,
the population there dropped from 950,000 to
675,000, leaving nearly 16,000 vacant structures
concentrated in a handful of areas. In the wake of
this, the city tried a variety of redevelopment
efforts, each one attended by frustration on behalf
of the private sector in its inability to wrest control
from the city’s hands, says Bob Pipik, director of
asset management in Baltimore’s Department of
Housing and Community Development.
“The transition began when Mayor O’Malley
was elected in 1999,” says Pipik. A local group,
Baltimore Economics and Efficiency Foundation
(BEEF), took a hard look at city government func-
tioning and identified property disposition as
something that was harder than it needed to be.
They recommended to the Mayor that we should
work with local REALTORS®.
At the same time, members of the Greater
Baltimore Board of REALTORS® (GBBR) were com-
plaining about the abandoned properties, says Jody

Public funds are necessary
in order to help support
the infrastructure for
reclaiming property.


On Common Ground: Summer 2005

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On Common Ground: Summer 2005