One of the first parks built as part of the District of Columbia’s Anacostia Waterfront Initiative, Canal Park presents a model of sustainability, attaining both Sustainable Sites Initiative (SITES) and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certifications. The public-private partnership that was established in order to design, fund, and develop the project allowed for neighborhood-scale impact. The park has quickly established itself as a social gathering place and an economic trigger for the surrounding neighborhood.
After the village of Orland Park, Illinois, invested $35 million in public infrastructure and land assembly, the real estate market collapsed and quashed anticipated development that would bring taxes to reimburse the village investment. When a new partner proposed a mixed-use project but could not obtain sufficient conventional financing, the village took the very risky step of providing a loan that completed the financial package. The village now has a viable center which achieved its initial goals and it has plans to repay the public investment.
In 1998, Mayor Richard Daley established a partnership with Chicago’s philanthropic community called the Millennium Park Foundation (MPF), a 501c3 not-for-profit corporation, and together they produced Millennium Park. Mayor Daley sliced through a red ribbon and officially opened the park on July 16, 2004. More than ten years later, the inventive park is a boon […]
Located at the heart of Singapore’s city center, against the backdrop of its signature skyline, Marina Bay presents an exciting array of opportunities for living, working, and playing. A successful example of Singapore’s long-term planning, the larger Marina Bay area was progressively reclaimed over a 40-year period starting in the 1970s. The central business district was seamlessly extended, and a new city center was created around an urban waterfront. This development aligns with Singapore’s plan for continued growth as a business and financial hub by raising the city-state’s international profile while stimulating growth and investment.
A six-block urban mixed-use infill project anchored by restaurants, shops, for-sale and rental multifamily housing, parking, and two public buildings (a regional library and a business innovation and arts center), Rockville Town Square is the first phase in the development of a 60-acre (24-ha) town center master plan. Located in an inner-ring, outside-the-Beltway suburb of Washington, D.C, on the Red Line of the city’s Metrorail mass transit system, the pedestrian-oriented project features the two public buildings and four mid-rise residential structures atop ground-floor retail space, all surrounding a town square. The result of a public/private partnership among local developers, the city of Rockville, and Montgomery County, Rockville Town Square has created an urban live/work/play environment in an established suburban community.
Life Hub @ Daning is a large-scale, retail-anchored mixed-use project in the Daning neighborhood of Zhabei District, Shanghai, China. The site was acquired in September 2003, and construction started in October 2004. The retail and office portions were completed in June 2006, and the hotel in October 2006. The retail and office buildings opened for business in October 2006, and the hotel opened in April 2007. With total gross floor area (GFA) of about 250,000 square meters (2.7 million sq ft), of which 200,000 square meters are above ground and 50,000 square meters are below ground, the project is arguably the most successful retail-anchored mixed-use development in the northern part of Shanghai. It has transformed Daning and its surrounding areas in Zhabei District, long considered a low-income and underdeveloped neighborhood with limited retail and entertainment amenities, into a vibrant community. With full occupancy for its retail component and consistently high occupancy for its office and hotel components, the project is highly successful both operationally and financially. The project won the prestigious National Award for Model Community and the Cityscape Asia Real Estate Award for Best Developer in 2008.
Woodward’s is a mixed-use, urban redevelopment project in the Gastown area of Vancouver’s east side, very close to downtown. Located on the site of the former Woodward’s department store, the redevelopment involved the demolition of several of the department store buildings, the restoration and adaptive use of one historic structure for office space, and the construction of two new residential towers, nonmarket housing units for both singles and families, new educational and cultural space for Simon Fraser University, an atrium, a daycare center, and ground-level retail space—all within the confines of a 2.32-acre site in an area with a variety of social and poverty issues. The project includes a total of 1,073,715 square feet of space.
Riverfront Park is an urban infill planned community that currently includes 1,859 rental and for-sale housing units in 14 buildings, 49,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, a museum, and three parks on a 23-acre site adjacent to downtown Denver. The project was initiated by the city of Denver on former railroad land, and involved a firm that assembled and rezoned the land and a second partnership of firms that undertook much of the development and construction. The project is arranged in a linear fashion between railroad tracks on one side and a 19-acre park developed by the city on the other, and is connected to the downtown by an iconic pedestrian bridge that spans the railroad tracks.
Harper Court is a mixed-use project—including office, retail, hotel, and parking uses—located on a 3.18-acre site in the Hyde Park neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago near the University of Chicago campus. The project was initiated by the city of Chicago and the university, with the objective of revitalizing a strategic commercial location important to the university campus and near transit. The project has been integrated into the existing street fabric and includes a new internal street. A second phase is planned to include up to 400,000 square feet of residential, hotel, and/or office space.
