A local real estate developer, Al Czervik, proposes to construct a mixed-use development with residential, office, and retail space. The city council likes the development plan because it is consistent with the council’s vision for the area. Czervik, seeing incentives being offered to convince compa … Read more

School may still be out for summer, but the CED blog is taking another look at the role that education plays in community and economic development. As earlier posts on teacher housing developments, downtown community colleges, an, most recently, the repurposing of historic school buildings have exam … Read more

A previous CED blog post analyzed securities law as it relates to crowdfunding, in which businesses use mass marketing and web-based platforms to raise investment capital from many investors in small amounts, with each investor becoming a share owner in the business. Another post described a differe … 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

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

A previous post by Tyler Mulligan explained how local governments can utilize land banks to address vacant, abandoned, and tax foreclosed properties in their community.  This post provides an example of a successful land bank in Genesee County, Michigan – home to the city of Flint – and discusses ke … Read more

I spent part of this past October weekend among a huge crowd of families enjoying a wonderful combination of North Carolina fall weather, fun, food, entertainment, educational activities, and adventure activities.  Must have been the NC State Fair, right? Actually while the description may hold, the … 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

  A historic, downtown building on Main Street has been vacant for the last 30 years. Once an iconic hotel for the Town, today the building is empty, other than a few occupied tenants filling retail space on the ground floor. The small Town has a tier 1 designation and is working hard to suppor … 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