Retail development continues to be reliant on the anchor tenant, defined in the ICSC Glossary of Terms as the primary tenant and consumer draw in a mall or large shopping center that makes the overall development economically viable. Visit your nearest shopping center in Anytown, USA and these busin … Read more

Downtown revitalization takes many forms, and for some cities downtown parks are a major catalyst for redevelopment. From New York’s Central Park to Greensboro’s Central City Park, parks have not only provided open green space for recreation and community gatherings, but have also fostered interest … Read more

Across the United States, malls are an endangered species. Once a marker of local economic success, the traditional, enclosed shopping mall are becoming abandoned, irrelevant, and forgotten structures. Many anchor tenants, like J.C. Penney, are relocating or closing down altogether. The high costs a … Read more

Downtowns are popular destinations again after decades of losing residents and businesses to suburban areas. Between 2000 and 2010, Census data show that the rate of residential growth in some of the nation’s largest downtowns grew more than twice as fast as the rest of their cities. While some of t … Read more

Downtown redevelopment to attract talented Millennials has become an important and popular economic development policy in many cities across the country. By now it is almost common knowledge what it takes to attract talented Millennials to your town or city: walkable, diverse and vibrant neighborhoo … Read more

How can we build on our existing assets to revitalize our downtown? How can we attract new residents and entrepreneurs into distressed areas? How can we encourage the kind of culture and vitality that keeps young professionals in our downtown? Many North Carolina towns are asking themselves these qu … Read more

Vacant buildings, condemned residences, underutilized commercial property – all are familiar characteristics of many downtowns throughout eastern North Carolina’s small towns.  Ironically, these characteristics are becoming all too familiar in towns experiencing tremendous growth. Within one North C … Read more

Something is brewing in small towns throughout North Carolina. Far outside the city limits of Beer City U.S.A. (also known to North Carolinians as Asheville), craft breweries are opening up in and around distressed downtowns throughout the state. Part industrial facility, part retail space, part bar … Read more

Over the last 20 years, the City of Rocky Mount has struggled to attract private investment into downtown. The Douglas Block project in Rocky Mount is an example of city-led redevelopment using creative financing to catalyze development in a distressed area. Rocky Mount is located roughly one hour e … Read more

In a recent post, Tyler Mulligan provided an overview of how local governments can use an Urban Redevelopment Area to attract private investment. This post will describe an example from Sanford, NC. In the early 2000s, the City of Sanford found itself in a position common to many other small towns i … Read more