Kannapolis, North Carolina, a 100-year-old manufacturing community, was once sustained predominately through jobs from the nearby textile mill. When the mill closed, the resulting 5,000 lost jobs hit the area hard. Rather than giving up, city and business leaders have joined forces to redevelop the downtown and surrounding areas into something unique and sustainable for the community.
David Murdoch, chairperson and CEO of Dole Foods and former owner of Cannon Mills, bought 350 acres in downtown Kannapolis, which is near Charlotte, setting his vision on building a world-class research campus focused on food and nutrition. Many of the residents and stakeholders couldn't be happier.
"We have an opportunity to reach out to a region of the state particularly hard-hit by global competition for manufacturing and agriculture," says James Moeser, Ph.D., Chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "We want to leverage our considerable research strengths in obesity, nutrition, and disease prevention, creating jobs and improving the lives of all North Carolinians."
Other communities around the nation are also in the beginning or middle stages of recreating themselves through downtown revitalization - a process that can take years of effort and millions of dollars, but that, if done right, can result in meaningful progress.
Campus Retreat
The North Carolina Research Campus, based in Kannapolis, is a joint venture between Dole Foods, Castle and Cooke, Duke University, the City of Kannapolis, and the University of North Carolina system. The $1.5 billion venture will include the Dole-North Carolina State Institute for Advanced Fruit and Vegetable Science, the University of North Carolina Center for Excellence in Nutrition, a state-of-the-art Dole Analytical Laboratory, and a high-tech incubator for startup firms. Additionally, Laboratory Corporation of America will also establish a major presence within the development. Duke University will locate its Institute for Translational Medicine to the campus and its scientists will run the core lab.
According to Mike Legg, city manager for Kannapolis, the research campus will generate $1.3 billion worth of new investment and create 37,000 new jobs over the next 20 years. One million square feet of research space will be available for lease to companies wanting to be part of the research facility. In addition to the numerous universities and municipalities coming on board, the NorthEast Medical Center - a 457-bed, not-for-profit medical center in Concord - is expected to begin operations at the research campus in 2008 and will occupy a new dedicated healthcare building. Cabarrus Family Medicine, a multi-clinic group providing comprehensive family healthcare, is also expected to expand and play a role in the campus.
"We are excited about the possibility of creating an internationally recognized research institute that would contribute significantly to our understanding of how the foods we eat affect our overall health and longevity," says Steven H. Zeisel, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UNC Clinical Nutrition Research Center. "The location will allow us to collaborate with other partners who will locate research facilities here...to translate our research findings into practice."
Success and Market Demand
While revitalizations such as these can stimulate the economy and bring new jobs, money, and energy to blighted downtown areas, those considering such projects will need careful strategic planning and futuristic vision in place. "There are lots of people who have these ideas, but you have to look at it from a market demand point of view," says Steve Engel, president of Griffis/Blessing, a real estate services firm. "There has to be demand to consume the square footage that you build, and you need to understand your market - where it is and where it's heading."
Just such understanding has gone into a newly conceived revitalization in downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado, which is being developed in part by Griffis/Blessing. After a year of study and debate, the "Citygate" project is underway, located at the entrance to south downtown, at the crossroads of Highway 24 and Interstate 25. Developers hope to build on the area's already strong historic and geographic strengths. Scheduled for inclusion in the redevelopment are a new convention and visitors bureau, mid-rise office buildings, retail, restaurants, and residential housing. A build-out of 10 to 12 years is expected for completion.
"Citygate is just a phenomenal location," says Engel. "It's the southern gateway to downtown Colorado Springs and serves the whole western and southwestern trade areas for the community." So far, Las Cruces Properties has moved a portion of its business to Colorado Springs from Las Cruces, New Mexico, to be closer to Peterson Air Force Base. Major Medical Supply is also relocating its oxygen supply store to the area from Denver.
Engel is quick to point out that the redevelopment is occurring because of careful planning and forethought. "We are not doing this on a hope and a prayer," he says. "Our market demand is there. In fact, our market studies show that the market demand is more than we can build there."
This need for market demand, and the ability to prove the economic viability of such revitalizations, is crucial. Employers large and small need to envision how such redevelopments can translate into well-paying jobs and decent housing for workers well before the first shovel of dirt is turned. Done correctly, downtown revitalization can help the wealth spread across all sectors.
New Sectors and Existing Residents
Another
boon for those who plan and correctly execute downtown redevelopment is
the addition of new businesses and new residents into the community.
"Pure life science, biotech, and pharmaceutical companies have not
really been attracted to the Charlotte region in the past," says Legg.
"[The research campus] changes all of that in a big way. Now there is a
reason for them to be in the Charlotte area, because there is such a
unique collaboration of universities."
Downtown Memphis,
Tennessee, has seen its share of revitalization and development, with
still much more to be done. Having numerous historic buildings in need
of redevelopment, many developers took a hard look at the economic
viability of revitalizing downtown, after much of the retail in the
area moved to adjacent malls.
"We had all of these warehouses
downtown that were no longer being used as warehouses," says Tony
Bologna, owner of Bologna Consultants, a Memphis-based construction
consulting firm. With a desire to lure more residents and companies
downtown, Memphis started converting the abandoned warehouse and office
buildings into apartments in 1980. From there, they built houses and
office buildings on Mud Island, a park-like area located off of
downtown. Much of the housing was targeted for people already working
in the downtown area.
What has made the current downtown
redevelopment in Memphis successful is the city's unique location as a
gateway for business and manufacturing distribution. "With Federal
Express, the railroads, and all the barge traffic that goes through
here, we are a major distribution center," says Bologna. In addition,
the area has St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, as well as
numerous government agencies to provide good jobs. "We were also able
to entice AutoZone to move its corporate headquarters downtown," he
says. "They took an old warehouse building, renovated it, and built a
brand-new office building for their headquarters."
The revitalization of downtown Memphis has
worked. More people are living and spending time in the area. "We have
a lot of things going on downtown: theaters, festivals, and sports,"
says Bologna. "People have now adapted to urban living as a way of
life."
So successful are some of these downtown remakes, that
many cities around the country are entering into the fray with large
and small projects:
• In downtown San Diego, a 34-story office
tower, with a focus on environmentally-friendly design, is currently
being proposed. In fact, the building is striving to be Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design-certified by the U.S. Green Building
Council. Irvine Co., a Newport Beach developer, anticipates design
approval in summer of 2007 and groundbreaking by mid-2008.
• In
northern California, downtown Napa has seven major private developments
in various stages of construction including, an Oxbow Public Market and
Annex, a Westin Verasa hotel, residential construction, and restaurants.
•
More than $2 billion in private and public investment has been utilized
or is planned for downtown redevelopment in Scottsdale, Arizona, during
the next five years. Some of this money has already resulted in
projects that include mixed-use office space in Stetson Plaza, the
Portales Corporate Center, the Hotel Valley Ho, and Waterview hotel and
residential complex.
• In the late 1980s, the city of Joliet,
Illinois, created a Joliet City Center Development Plan to revitalize
its downtown core. Many aspects of the plan have been completed,
including the Harrah's Casino Pavilion and Hotel, the Freedom Court
building, and expansion of the Joliet Public Library. More than $128
million in property valuation has been added to the downtown area.
Creating a Substantial Foundation
According
to Legg, to succeed in a downtown redevelopment requires "something
substantial that moves downtown and creates well-paying jobs. And you
have to create higher density residential sections that draw people
downtown after hours and on weekends." Bologna agrees and adds to the
mix good corporate citizenship and developers with deep enough pockets
to roll with the lean years. "You've got to have developers and clients
who are not looking for a quick buck, who are looking to stay the
course, and who can keep the vision they started out with," he says.
Ultimately,
says Legg, successfully revamping a downtown area requires a
combination of vision and action. "You've got to get aggressive, take
risks, and make it happen," he says. "Most things usually fail because
of a lack of vision. Once you get past that, then you can start working
on the details."