Archive for the ‘Urban Planning’ Category
Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013
A new report from the Urban Land Institute highlights the influence that growing demographic groups in the U.S. (in particular Millenials) will have on reshaping urban growth patterns. The America in 2013 report found that housing, transportation, and community preferences among growing demographic groups will likely spur more development of compact, mixed-use communities with good transit service. The report is based on a nationwide survey of 1,200 adults.
On the whole, the survey suggests that demand will continue to rise for infill residential development that is less car-dependent, while demand could wane for isolated development in outlying suburbs. The survey found that among all respondents, 61 percent said they would prefer a smaller home with a shorter commute over a larger home with a longer commute. Of the three major generations in the report, Millenials (or Gen Y) – the largest generation and the most diverse – is the generation that is likely to have the most profound impact on land use. Numbering 80 million and generally not yet fully immersed in the housing and jobs markets, Millenials have yet to fully make their mark on the urban landscape through their preferences for things such as mixed-use development, proximity to shopping and dining, and walkability.
A majority of American who plan to move in the next five years want proximity to shopping, work, and activities (Source: ULI)
Sixty-three percent of Millenials said they plan to move in the next five years, along with 63 percent of African Americans, 54 percent of Latinos, and 56 percent of those currently living in a large city. The survey found that these groups prefer good transit, short commutes, diversity in housing choices, and mixed-use communities. According to ULI, these different demographic cohorts are all growing in number, and together are creating a significant market shift toward compact, mixed-use development that is different than the types of land uses that were built to meet the demands of previous generations.
Other key survey findings noted by ULI:
- The appeal of homeownership remains strong: Seventy-one percent of all respondents said buying a home is a good investment, despite the recent housing crisis and associated decline in home values.
- Half of those with no access to buses and trains were dissatisfied by this situation. Fifty-two percent of the population said that convenient public transportation was important.
- Safety and high-quality schools are the most sought-after community attributes: Ninety-two percent of respondents ranked neighborhood safety as the most important attribute; good schools ranked as the second highest at 79 percent.
- Having space and proximity are equally important: 72 percent of the survey participants said having space between neighbors is a priority; yet (somewhat contradictorily) 71 percent placed a high value on being close to employment , schools, and healthcare facilities.
Check out the full report here.
Tags: America in 2013, community survey, Millenials, mixed-use, transit, ULI, Urban Land Institute, walkability
Posted in Real Estate Trends, Residential Real Estate Index, Urban Planning | No Comments »
Sunday, April 7th, 2013
Red Line BRT
Since transit talk in the Twin Cities tends to focus on light rail, you might not have heard about the region’s next transit line, which is set to open for service in June. The Red Line will provide bus rapid transit (BRT) service in the Cedar Avenue corridor of the South Metro, linking the Mall of America with points south in the suburbs of Eagan, Apple Valley, and Lakeville.
The Red Line will be the second in the region’s METRO system, the planned network of higher speed, higher frequency regional transit lines. The primary goal of the project is to increase mobility and manage congestion in the busy Cedar Avenue corridor, which sees about 90,000 motorists a day and 605,000 express bus riders annually. The Red Line will travel on bus-only shoulder lanes and will operate every 15 minutes during peak travel periods. Buses will serve each station with level boarding, real-time signs, and other transit advantages, much like service on the METRO Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT).
But beyond increasing transportation options in the corridor, planners are hoping that the Red Line will stimulate transit-oriented development in an area mostly known for strip malls and cul-de-sacs. Apple Valley officials hope to see more compact, mixed-use development, with urban design and pedestrian amenities.
However, thus far only one such project has materialized, a 332-unit apartment project by Denver-based Titan Development. Other development activity near Red Line stations is thus far limited to a Chick-fil-A restaurant. As an Apple Valley economic development official noted in a Finance & Commerce article, “not a real home-run project” in terms of the transit-oriented development the City would like to see.
As the line begins service this summer, planners in the corridor will be hoping to see more proposals similar to the project by Titan. But being the first BRT line in Minnesota, the Red Line will be somewhat of an experiment in determining whether bus rapid transit can be as much of a draw to transit-oriented developers as the light rail projects being built in denser areas of the metro.
Tags: Apple Valley, BRT, bus rapid transit, Cedar Avenue, Dakota County, Eagan, Lakeville, Metropolitan Council, Red Line, Titan Development, TOD, transit-oriented development
Posted in Urban Planning | No Comments »
Thursday, February 7th, 2013
The 2013 Hines Competition is underway!
One hundred sixty teams from 70 universities in the United States and Canada are currently developing solutions for a site in Minneapolis’s Downtown East neighborhood, near the site of the new Minnesota Vikings stadium
The ULI/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition, now in its 11th year, is an urban design and development challenge for graduate students. The Hines Competition challenges multidisciplinary student teams to devise a comprehensive development program for a real, large-scale site. Teams of five students representing at least three disciplines have two weeks to develop solutions that include drawings, site plans, tables, and market-feasible financial data.
The University of St Thomas team members are Thomas McElroy, full time MBA student; Thomas Strohm, MSRE student, Michael Richardson, Master of Urban and Regional Planning student at the University of Minnesota; Amber Hill, Master of Landscape Architecture student at the University of Minnesota; and John Briel, Master of Urban and Regional Planning student at the University of Minnesota.
This is an ideas competition; there is no expectation that any of the submitted schemes will be applied to the site. The winning team will receive $50,000 and the finalist teams $10,000 each.
The ULI/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition is part of the Institute’s ongoing effort to raise interest among young people in creating better communities, improving development patterns, and increasing awareness of the need for multidisciplinary solutions to development and design challenges. This competition is an ideas competition; there is no expectation that any of the submitted schemes will be applied to the site. The winning team will receive $50,000 and the finalist teams $10,000 each. Winners that will advance to the next round of the competition will be announced by the end of February.
Tags: Downtown Minneapolis, local real estate, Master of Science in Real Estate, Real Estate Competition, real estate development, UST real estate, vikings stadium
Posted in Commercial Real Estate, Contest, Development, Economics, Industry News, Real Estate Trends, Residential Real Estate, Retail Real Estate, Think Outside The Box, Urban Planning, UST Program News, UST Real Estate in the News | No Comments »
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013
This article came to my attention recently. It was written by Marlys Harris and it appeared on December 18th, 2012 in MINNPOST. I think it is an interesting look at what happened and what might have been.
Herb Tousley
Since I began writing this column last spring, I envisioned two year-end pieces. One would itemize the worst things that planners, bureaucrats, politicians, developers and We the People have done to our Twin Cityscape; the second would list the best. My thought was that both might provide some lessons about what improves the urban environment and what doesn’t — though, such is life that sometimes even the best ideas turn into misbegotten messes — and vice-versa.
Over the last year, I’ve been asking practically every person I interview for his or her suggestions. And, I have added a few I’ve collected since moving back here two years ago. Herewith, the baddies, in no particular order:
No. 1: The destruction of the Gateway District.
Located near the Mississippi, this area stretches south to the library and from Hennepin to Third Avenue S. Once upon a time, it was a park with an elaborate pavilion that welcomed those arriving at the nearby train station. During the Depression, however, it became Minneapolis’ version of the Bowery, complete with flophouses, taprooms and sleazy hotels.
By the 1950s, the city decided it had to do something. The buildings were dilapidated and supposedly impossible to renovate. So Minneapolis won a grant from the Feds and over the next six or seven years razed 200 buildings and leveled 22 blocks, leaving a third of downtown vacant. Among the casualties: the Metropolitan Building, a then 80-year-old landmark whose central atrium was adorned with incredible iron grillwork. Buildings have gone up in the area, but it has never become vital. Much of the acreage is still devoted to surface parking lots.
“It’s now a dead area between two neighborhoods,” says Sam Newberg, founder of Joe Urban, Inc., a market research company.
The takeaway: I see two lessons here. First, you don’t knock down buildings until you have something compelling to put in their place. Second, large-scale projects are blunt instruments that destroy the good along with the bad. Among the flophouses and taprooms probably existed salvageable small buildings and rooming houses that these days, with an infusion of dough, could be turned into a walkable neighborhood of interesting stores that would give us some relief from chains. When it comes to urban renewal, it’s probably always better to go small and see what happens.
Minnesota Historical Society/Eugene Debs Becker
A view of the State Capitol from I-94, circa 1974.
No. 2: The slicing of downtown St. Paul in two.
The U.S. interstate highway system is considered one of the marvels of the modern age. On its broad lanes drivers can speed without interruption from city to city, almost as though they were in a tunnel. But those same concrete byways can and have blighted cities. Take St. Paul, which has a beautifully compact and navigable downtown. How much better would it be if I94 did not cut off the Capitol and its campus from the rest of the city?
“Separating downtown from the Capitol was obviously a terrible decision,” said Mayor Chris Coleman at a meeting of the Urban Land Institute a couple of months ago. Those lousy decisions, he added, can be with us for 100 years.
The takeaway: Freeways should transport people to cities, not churn through their guts. Highway engineers: Figure out a way to go around downtown, not through.
(more…)
Tags: local real estate, real estate development, trends, urban planning
Posted in Commercial Real Estate, Development, Government Policy, Urban Planning | No Comments »
Thursday, December 13th, 2012
This post was written by Dan Jackson, a 2012 UST MBA graduate.
So I have a confession to make about myself that I have only shared with a few people (apparently this post is most appropriate to make it known to all)…I have always had a life-long fascination (and somewhat of an obsession) with trains. This fascination was so strong, that one of my dream jobs as a child was to be a train conductor or train engineer. Ever since I can remember, I always became excited when I was in the car with my parents and we would come to a train crossing right as a train passed through the intersection. Instead of getting bored and irritated with the amount of time it took for the train to pass, I would get excited and would count the number of cars, imagining myself on the train taking me to its next destination. I still get excited at railroad crossings today if a train passes by!
Photo credit: St. Paul Union Depot
I also remember my first train set that I received at Christmas. I would frequently set this up in our basement and spend countless hours watching the train progress through its large figure-eight track system. The train had a functioning headlight, and whistle!
Moving forward into my adult life, the fascination with trains continues. As you can imagine, I was super excited when the Hiawatha light-rail line opened for business and I was also elated when I heard about the construction and opening of one of the first commuter rail systems for Minnesota, the Northstar Commuter Rail. Over the years I’ve come to understand that this love for trains contributes to my overall excitement about the New Urbanism concept (which I’ve discussed in previous posts), as well as place-making principles. All of these points came together once again in an article in Finance and Commerce that discussed the recent restoration and grand re-opening of the St. Paul Union Depot. The article talks about the complexities and surprises that were encountered during the restoration of the building that first opened in 1923. The building saw its last passenger train in 1971, but still housed a restaurant and operated as a meeting space for weddings, parties and other business functions. The restoration and re-opening of this space allows me to reminisce about the days when the Union Depot was the gateway for many people coming into the Twin Cities area, the first stop in the cities for many who were accustomed to travelling via train at the time.
Today, the Union Depot will once again serve as a transit hub to passenger trains, as well as light-rail transit and bus service. In addition to serving as a connection point for many metro transit busses and Jefferson Bus Lines, the Union Depot will serve Amtrak trains, as well as be the final (or beginning – depending on which way you are headed) stop for the Central Corridor light rail system.
While the re-opening of the Union Depot allows me to indulge myself in the variety of possible transit options that will be available here in the Twin Cities (especially options via train), I want to focus more on what a transit station itself means in terms of development opportunities for the Twin Cities area. I reflect on an assignment that I completed during one of my classes at St. Thomas, REAL 746: Real Estate Market Analysis and Feasibility. The class focuses on the role of market analysis and feasibility studies in real estate decision making and valuation. For the final project, we were to perform a market analysis for a particular site that we would like to see developed in the Twin Cities area. Given the focus and direction of the course, I chose to look at the feasibility of a transit terminal station near Target Field in Minneapolis, home of the Minnesota Twins. While the Union Depot is not located in Minneapolis, there were many elements that I focused on within my project for REAL 746 that relate well to the revival of the Union Depot as a transportation hub. Listed below are just a few examples that I found through research that highlight the importance of a transit hub in the Twin Cities metro area. (more…)
Tags: Amtrak, Corridor light rail, Jefferson Bus Lines, light rail, Metropolitan Council, New Urbanism, Saint Paul Saints, St. Paul Union Depot
Posted in Economics, Industry News, Think Outside The Box, Urban Planning | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 12th, 2012
This post was written by Dan Jackson, a 2012 UST MBA graduate.
With the recent economic downturn and rising costs of fuel prices, many Americans have started to re-consider their living and personal lifestyle options. Many families and individuals have been moving back into the city, to be closer to work, to have access to public transportation and to be able to walk to city entertainment and shopping venues. Mixed-use developments, consisting of spaces that allow people to live, work, play and stay have become popular and are on the rise in many urban cities.
Photo Credit: Racked Chicago
According to the Congress for New Urbanism, mixed-use urban form was the standard before 1950, but separate-use zoning codes and high-volume road standards subsequently helped to make suburban sprawl today’s default development option. New urbanism provides an opportunity to reverse the course of this sprawl and strengthen the character, livability, and diversity of urban communities. According to the New Urbanism website, this concept promotes the creation and restoration of diverse, walkable, compact, vibrant, mixed-use communities composed of the same components as conventional development, but assembled in a more integrated fashion, in the form of complete communities. These contain housing, work places, shops, entertainment, schools, parks, and civic facilities essential to the daily lives of the residents, all within easy walking distance of each other.
While the new urbanism concept is not new, many retailers and real estate developers have been re-adapting skills and resources to be able to find ways to appeal to this new urban audience. Retailers have been able to better incorporate elements from new urbanism into design plans.
Target Corporation is one example of a handful of retailers who are responding to the demands of the growing urban communities. July 2012 saw the retailer rolling out their new concept, CityTarget, in a few select urban cities across the U.S. The introduction of CityTarget has allowed the retailer to introduce elements of new urbanism into the market while maintaining its well-known Target brand. (more…)
Tags: CityTarget, Congress for New Urbanism, New Urbanism
Posted in Development, Real Estate Trends, Retail Real Estate, Think Outside The Box, Urban Planning | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 4th, 2012
This post was written by Dan Jackson, a 2012 UST MBA graduate. Dan completed many of his electives in real estate including participation in the spring 2012 REAL 714 International Real Estate Development course in the Cayman Islands.
Photo credit: IKEA
The Big Blue Box… furniture products that are easy to assemble… cheap and affordable, yet chic items… Swedish meatballs and cheap meals are all items that remind people of the retail giant IKEA. But the retailer now wants to get you to think outside of the big blue box.
The popular Swedish home furniture products company IKEA has its sights set on expanding its well-known footprint. The next endeavor for the company, which already has a large international presence, revolves around building entire communities where people will be able to live, work, stay and play. According to the Globe and Mail IKEA is “launching a bold push into the business of designing, building and operating entire urban neighbourhoods.” The Globe continues to state that while this is a new and bold endeavor for the furniture icon they still want these new neighborhoods to have an emphasis on the traditional affordability concept that IKEA is well-known for with its furniture products model. One of IKEA’s current slogans is “Affordable solutions for living better,” and this is the type of slogan that the property development division anticipates as they move forward into the first phase of development of these new communities. The property development team wants to create communities that are beautiful, well-maintained and allow for a maximum lifestyle benefit, but yet still affordable for families and individuals. (more…)
Tags: Camana Bay, Dart Company, European development, IKEA, IKEA corporation, IKEA Europe, IKEA hotel
Posted in Affordable Housing, Commercial Real Estate, Development, International Real Estate, Multifamily, Real Estate Trends, Retail Real Estate, Think Outside The Box, Urban Planning | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 14th, 2012
Several urban job centers have committed to building tiny, affordable housing units.
There is a new multi-family housing trend beginning to appear in some of the higher priced housing markets around the country. Ultra small “mirco-apartments” are one answer that can make apartments affordable to young renters in these high priced areas. Will this trend find it’s way to the Minneapolis / St. Paul Market? This article by John Caulfield recently appeared in BUILDER
From: BUILDER 2012
An 11,775-square-foot building with 23 micro apartments is being wedged onto a 3,750-square-foot lot between two other buildings in San Francisco’s SoMa district.
Construction has begun on an infill project at 38 Harriet Street in San Francisco that its developer, builder, and module supplier believe could determine whether micro apartments remain a highly publicized curiosity or are seen as legitimate housing alternatives for young urban professionals seeking cheaper, greener, and walkable living spaces.
“There are a lot of eyes on this project, a lot of interest,” says Naomi Porat, president and co-founder of Zeta Communities, whose factory in Sacramento, Calif., is close to completing the 12- by 65-foot modules that will be used to construct an 11,775-square-foot four-story wood-framed building squeezed onto a 3,750-square-foot lot in this city’s South of Market Street (SoMa) district. That building will contain 23 micro apartments measuring around 300 square feet each, with nine-foot ceilings, kitchens and baths, washers and dryers, and multipurpose built-ins for storage and workspaces that can convert to sleeping areas.
These apartments reflect a “Smart Space” concept that the project’s developer, Panoramic Interests, created with a team of architects and designers to address the needs of millenials poring into urban job centers where affordable housing is perennially in short supply.
“In San Francisco, 8,000 new tech workers have been hired this year alone,” says Patrick Kennedy, the owner of Panoramic Interests, to illustrate the potential demand for micro apartments. His firm test-drove its Smart Space design with a 160-square-foot prototype it built in a warehouse in Berkeley, Calif., and housed an MIT grad student for three weeks who provided feedback about what he thought did and didn’t work.
Kennedy told the San Francisco Chronicle that prospective residents of micro apartments are looking for a “launching space as they get established.” In an interview with Builder, he described micro apartments as “a return to more collaborative communal living.” He observed that millenials view apartments in the context of a lifestyle that is more socially and technologically defined. “They’ll trade 100 square feet of space for 100 more megabytes of Internet,” he quips.
And with monthly rents expected to start at $1,500 (with five of the 23 apartments being offered at a below-market rate of $910 per month), these micro apartments should be available for significantly less than the $2,000-plus per month an under-500-square-foot studio apartment fetches, on average, in San Francisco.
John Caulfield is senior editor for Builder magazine.
The 300-square-foot apartments will feature 9-foot ceilings, kitchens and baths, storage, and flexible built-ins.
Panoramic Interests
These renderings show how renters can manipulate the space inside the apartments to turn a sleeping area into a work or eating space.
Panoramic InterestsLarge windows and high ceilings give these tiny spaces a more capacious feeling.
Tags: Commercial Real Estate, Multifamily, real estate development, Residential Real Estate, trends
Posted in Affordable Housing, Commercial Real Estate, Development, Green Building, Industry News, Multifamily, Real Estate Trends, Residential Real Estate, Think Outside The Box, Urban Planning | No Comments »
Monday, July 9th, 2012
This is a reposting of a blog entry that appeared recently on The Cornerstone Group blog(see link below). It presents an interesting look at how project planners, architects, and developers can make cities a better place a better place to live.
http://www.tcgmn.com/blog/
Imagine a perfect day in your city or hometown. What does it look like? Where would you go? How would you get there? What would you do? Who might you see along the way?
Place making, an evolving multi-disciplinary approach to planning, design, and management of public spaces, seeks to transform average spaces into high-quality places where people can relax, interact, collaborate, and participate.
After years of designing cities for the automobile, astute planners and developers are once again designing for people.
Cornerstone staff recently attended a Project for Public Spaces (PPS) event, where instructors gave participants insights about how great public spaces take shape.
“Value created by the public realm will drive the success of a city.”
“How do we get from inadequate to extraordinary?” The process starts with listening to the community, because neighborhood residents truly are the experts. They know what is needed and what will or won’t work.
New York City has witnessed the redesign of several public spaces for greater pedestrian visibility and accessibility, which promotes increased activity and improves levels of public safety and comfort. Setting back corners from the street edge, away from cars, can be an important aspect to the design.
Recognizing that cities and developers alike are strapped for cash, PPS advises for the “lighter, quicker, cheaper” approach. Adding simple elements to plazas such as moveable furniture encourages people to customize a space for their specific use and group size, enabling collaboration.
Programming public spaces with a variety of activities from markets to fitness and games to performance arts and crafts
brings life to a place and attracts even more people to a neighborhood. In New York City, Bryant Park was formerly home to several drug-dealing gangs and underwent a major renovation. Committed to change, business owners supported redevelopment of the plaza through a special taxing district and created a more welcoming, accessible design, with the park booked morning, noon, and night with activities for all ages and cultural backgrounds.
Candy Chang, an artist and urban planner, recently spoke at the Walker Art Center and shared her vision for community spaces as inspiring places where citizens are both contemplative and engaged. One of Chang’s most successful projects, a wall that encourages passerby’s to fill in the blank answering the question “Before I die I want to…” has expanded to cities on several continents. A “Before I die” wall launched in Minneapolis in the Whittier neighborhood just hours before Chang’s arrival and was completely filled by eager citizens on the first day.
(more…)
Tags: Commercial Real Estate, development case study, livable cities, local real estate, Residential Real Estate, trends, urban planning, walkability
Posted in Development, Economics, Government Policy, Green Building, Real Estate Trends, Residential Real Estate, Think Outside The Box, Urban Planning | No Comments »
Friday, June 22nd, 2012
This is a reposting of of a blog post by Shaun McElhatton from the CREtrends.com, a blog about commercial real estate published by Leonard Street & Deinard. They have many interesting postings about commercial real estate. I would encourage you to check them out at www.cretrends.com.
A new Brookings Institution study suggests that walkability increases values for both for-sale and rental housing, as well as office and retail real estate. The study concludes that office, residential, and retail rents, retail revenues, and for-sale residential home prices all increase faster in walkable communities than in communities where walking is more difficult. The study also finds that rents and home values increase even more quickly in areas where walkable communities are clustered together to form walkable districts. While the study is based on Washington, D.C. real estate rental and sales data, in a related New York Times editorial, one of the study’s authors argues that data from Seattle, Columbus and Denver support the study’s conclusions.
Tags: affordable housing, Brownfields, Land Use, Mixed-use Development, Residential Development, Retail, Transportation, Uncategorized
Posted in Commercial Real Estate, Development, Economics, Industry News, Multifamily, Real Estate Trends, Residential Real Estate, Retail Real Estate, Senior Housing, Student Housing, Urban Planning | No Comments »
