Juergensen Report
Community Revitalization Newsletter Archives
Downtown Ludington Economic Enhancement Strategy Complete
Richard Florida drops by Lansing
J&A Joins the National Trust’s Preservation Team in Duluth
Positive Images Closes on Home Funds
San Francisco, San Jose, Denver - Melodies and Memories of Recent Journeys
On October 13, Juergensen & Associates presented the Downtown Ludington Economic Enhancement Strategy to the Ludington City Council. The strategy, put together by Juergensen & Associates, in partnership with SmithGroup JJR and Woods Group Consulting, was approved unanimously by the City Council. The full text of the report is available below.
The
report contained specific action items, 
including
focusing the attention on a consolidated Downtown District and wrapping
the Downtown in new housing. As a direct result, the City
of Ludington recently issued a request for proposal (RFP) to redevelop
their former city hall property, adjacent to the municipal marina and
the downtown district. For more information, call Mary
Beutell, Community Development Director or John Shay, City Manger
at 231/845-6237.
Downtown
Ludington Economic Enhancement StrategyThe Ludington Daily News printed a Guest Column by Jay Juergensen on October 13. The complete text of the column is available in .pdf format.
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Richard Florida the acclaimed author of "The Rise of the Creative Class," will be in Lansing, Michigan on December 11 and Detroit on March 3 and 4. For details, please go to the www.michigan.gov/hal and http://www.createdetroit.com.
Working
through MSHDA, J&A has been part of the State’s effort to create
Cool Cities and we look forward to dialogue with him and his colleagues
as we work together on strategies to attract and retain members of the
"Creative Class."
I had the opportunity to meet Richard Florida at the National Main Street Center's annual conference in Cincinnati. Over Guinness at a small Irish Pub tucked into an alley in Downtown Cincinnati, we shared and debated philosophical perspectives and talked about the challenges in Michigan and Detroit. All in all, I found him to be a very down-to-earth and engaging guy.
To my surprise, he spoke with great interest about the potential for Detroit with its old industrial buildings and its jumping music scene. He believes that Detroit has a great opportunity to create unique living spaces and foster a creative environment.
This week Jay is in Duluth, Minnesota as part of an eight-member team of experts as part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Preservation Development Initiative funded through The Knight Foundation. As part of the team, Jay will work with city leaders and community stakeholders to assess the city's historic and economic development potential.
The four-day initiative will include a review of the municipal codes, an investigation of historic sites and structures for signature redevelopment projects and the development of strategies for the city to seize and leverage their historic assets.
Having worked in Duluth for almost three years with LISC, we are excited to be included and are looking forward to expanding our formal relationship with the Trust.
Since
1999, Juergensen & Associates has been managing
the development and implementation of a $6.1 million dollar conversion
of the former St. John Berchman Catholic Convent, on Detroit’s eastside,
into supportive housing for 32 chemically dependent, homeless moms and
their families.
The project recently closed on just under $1.8 million of HOME Funds from the City of Detroit and we are pleased to see this final resource in-place, allowing the project to build momentum and move toward completion. The project also includes approximately $2.3 million of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, provided by the Great Lakes Capital Fund as well as resources from HUD’s Supportive Housing Program, MSHDA, Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, Federal Home Loan Bank (through Fifth/Third Bank) and Community Development Block Grant.
Several
members of our staff have worked on the project since its inception,
including, John Morey, Damian Colden and Jim DiMercurio, who is currently
overseeing the day-to-day activities. Other members of the development
team include attorney Warren Dean, development consultant Mike Mitchell,
architects from Raymond O’Leary, environmental consultants ECT, Inc,
surveying and site engineering by Metco Land SEA and the general contractor
is Original Construction.
In construction since June, the building has had the majority of its interior removed to make way for the apartment configuration. Crews are currently removing the old roofing material and plan to have the new roof completed before winter arrives. Also, the construction of the new interior partitions is well underway. Most of the existing plumbing had to be removed and new pipes are already being replaced. Occupants will benefit from an elevator tower in one of the building’s courtyards, which is now in the early phase of construction.
CONGRATULATIONS!!! to Positive Images and the fellow members of our development team for a job well done!
San Francisco’s Hills, Hype and Homeless – While I didn’t leave my heart in the City by the Bay like Tony Bennett, this trip was more revealing the others I’ve taken recently.
People often rave about how wonderful San Francisco is – and granted, with its weather, transit, topography and nearly 750,000 people in just under 49 square miles (compared to Detroit’s 925,000 in almost three (3) times the land mass of 140 square miles) it is a happenin’ place. But –
Have you wandered down Market Street recently? Because Frisco’s Main Street and downtown are a mess. Blocks of vacant buildings, marginal businesses and adult establishments, sidewalks that appear to roll up at 5 o’clock and there are homeless people – everywhere. Not just in downtown, but in the Castro, SOMA in the and up and down Mission.
Security gates on apartment buildings and homes throughout the city aren’t there because of concerns over crime, but prevent the homeless from camping out on the stoop. And while it bothers some locals, it seems that the combination of mild weather (allowing people to “easily” sleep outside year-round) and liberal politics have created a high-level of tolerance for a problem that has plagued the city for many years, and which at its very root is an affordable housing challenge.
Housing costs in San Francisco are among the highest in the nation. Its environment and reputation as a great place to live, work and play has created demand that has outstripped supply. Time will judge if this often, innovative city will step up to this challenge.
San Jose on My Mind – And not because of the Dionne Warwick ballad, but because I won a silent auction at the National Main Street Conference for a two night stay at the Historic Hyatt Sainte Claire in San Jose, I decided to take a look at this Northern California tech-town up close.
At
the height of the Internet boom, San Jose seemed staged for unprecedented
growth and while the growth has slowed, they have staked their claim
and are hoping to take Detroit’s spot as #10 (click
for the full article from the San Jose Mercury News). As home
to Adobe Systems, Inc. downtown is sea of relatively young high rises.
With the exception of my hotel and a few adjacent commercial, civic
and religious buildings, it appears the city never had
a traditional early 20th century downtown or torn it all
down for the new one they now have.
And ironically, if the much-sought-after creative class is seeking authentic, historic kinds of environments, I was hard pressed to find it and curious how all that Internet boom happened there. At night, the downtown collection of office buildings felt like any other suburban office park, void of people and activity.
At the same, Santana Row, a new “downtown” in the current model of large, new-town/downtown/lifestyle centers, has been built across from the Macy-anchored regional mall, five miles from downtown. Santana Row is a mixed-use development of high-end retailers, restaurants, housing and a hotel.
Controversial
since its announcement,
the 40-acre development that includes 680,000 square feet of retail
space and 1,200 units of housing was set ablaze last year with suspicion
focused on an environmental organization. Although, a healthy
insurance settlement kept the development moving forward and led to
the addition of more housing units.
As I strolled down Olin Avenue, Santana Row’s “main street” in my post gym sweat shorts and t-shirt, I felt completely out of place among the Four bedroom, four bathroom townhouses with attached au-pair’s room that rent for a cool $8,500 a month. As I reviewed the resident recruitment literature at Chili’s, I wondered where the people who worked there live. See affordable housing problems noted above.
Denver is a Rocky Mountain High – The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Annual Conference was cause for my most recent visit to the Mile High City and beyond the benefits of the networking and education provided by the Conference, I was once again impressed by this city.
Over the last couple of years as I sought my National Development Council Certification, I directly experienced the heralded revitalization in downtown and many neighborhoods. Years ago, Denver took charge of the historic fabric in its lower downtown (Lo-Do) and has clearly reaped the benefits of this strategy and the revitalization is not restricted to the central business. Denver is remaking nearly 5,000 acres of the former Stapleton Airport into a dynamic series of environmentally friendly, transit-oriented and partially affordable new urbanist new villages.
At the same time, in February of 2002, the city announced the construction of the new 40,000-square-foot, Blair-Caldwell African-American Research Library (image above). It opened In April of this year in the Five Points Neighborhood – the traditional center of the African-American community in Denver. As the only library of its kind between Detroit and Oakland, it will serve a resource focusing on the history, literature, art, music, religion, and politics of African Americans in Colorado and throughout the Rocky Mountain West.
Near
the entry of the library, one can begin a walking tour of the Five Points
neighborhood, celebrating the history of its African-American residents
and along Welton Avenue, a private company includes the history
of the black community in murals on its factory’s wall. Given
the shear size and impact of Detroit’s black community, is unfortunate
similar efforts to celebrate its history are not more evident here.
And
while the city celebrates its history and is experiencing revitalization,
Denver is also leading the country in examining regional challenges
like affordable housing and transportation
through its Metro
Mayors Caucus. Highlighted in a ULI Conference a year ago the
Caucus’ commitment to affordable housing, the city’s inclusionary housing
ordinance, shared transportation financing and the Caucus’ support of
an urban growth boundary.
As for the Trust Conference, reconnecting to my preservation colleagues is always invigorates my spirit and my commitment to revitalization. It was exciting to learn about the Trust’s Corporate Good Neighbor Initiative (promoting better design in chain, franchise and other corporate real estate), challenges many communities are having with their historic schools and the Trust’s important work on diversity issues.
Detroit Housing Opportunity and Challenge
In
the wake of a sluggish economy, the ULI's recently published "
Emerging
Trends in Real Estate 2004 "
does not bode well for the real estate industry. Within the national
context, market watchers, developers and investors rate Detroit (as
a metro area) with the lowest returns and relatively high risk amongst
the nineteen top markets and 35 th out of 38 in consideration of development
and investment potential.
The report suggests a thin set of opportunities exist in the development industry, that include for-sale housing in downtowns and infill locations (condo conversions, lofts and adaptive re-use projects), low and moderate income apartments in urban and inner-ring suburbs, brownfield projects, and master planned communities based on smart-growth and new urbanism principles. The report further suggests that the best markets for housing are those with the highest barriers to entry and least-affordable single-family homes – neither of which exist in Detroit.
National reports suggest that between now and 2006; we're heading toward an oversupply of apartments. Since 1991, the 25-34 year old age group – the prime renter group – has been shrinking, as has the second largest group, those between the ages of 35 and 44, while apartment construction has been booming. Recent media reports bemoan the loss of nearly 30,000 genXers and baby busters (find the Detroit News or Free Press piece about this around 9.23.03) in the metro area, which has the Governor, the Chamber and just about everybody scrambling to make “cool cities” in an attempt to keep them here. And it's clear to the casual observer, that the loss of this constituent group, record low mortgage rates and an oversupply of apartments have caused desperate landlords throughout southeast Michigan to offer incentives, do more advertising and hang banners in order to fill their units.
Yet, in Detroit, you can get great value for your housing dollar. Twice a year, I have the pleasure of hosting nearly 50 new Detroiters as tour guide for Wayne State's Detroit Orientation Institute ( www.culma.wayne.edu/doi/ ). Each and every time, the participants, generally from other cities, are floored by what you get for your money in Detroit. Unfortunately, I get them after they've bought their home and moved their family and I always hear, “My relocation firm never showed me these neighborhoods.” And while the school system is often the whipping boy of why folks don't choose to live in Detroit, most of these folks have their kids in private school anyway and we know that the Chicago Public Schools is why so many people want to live in the Windy City.
The Millennial Housing Commission's report issued nearly eighteen months ago, suggested that housing costs for everyone have risen. Even those making 120% of the area median income ($89,000 for a family of four in metro Detroit) have seen an increase of 73%, while the same family making between $35,000 and $56,000 have seen their housing costs increase 43%.
So, what does that mean? It means that Detroit's leadership – the City, the Chamber, the Convention and Visitor's Bureau, Detroit Renaissance and its members, ought to start promoting how really inexpensive it is to live in Detroit compared to other metro areas. The Big Three and everyone else's Human Resources Department AND their relocation firms need to get on one of my buses and/or participate in the many home tours throughout the year and really see the quality housing stock in our city.
At the same time, the creative class Richard Florida speaks about are artists and entrepreneurs and they seek and need inexpensive housing. What better way to retain, attract and recruit this much-sought-after constituent, than to lead with one of our greatest assets?
Next month, we'll talk more about affordable housing challenges in Detroit. Stay tuned.