Author: Jay Corbalis

Development-oriented transit: How value-capture launched DC’s newest neighborhood

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noma-mbt

The 2013 LOCUS Leadership Summit was held on June 3-5, 2013 in Washington, D.C. A walking tour of NoMa was one of the many items in this year’s agenda.

At certain times of day, competition for an available bicycle can be fierce at the Capital Bikeshare station on the corner of 1st and M Street NE in Washington, D.C. That intersection serves as the unofficial crossroads for the city’s newest and fastest growing neighborhood, NoMa (short for “North of Massachusetts Avenue”), where a building boom is in full swing. On a typical weeknight, the sidewalks of NoMa brim with young professionals, who stop in at the new Harris Teeter grocery store or CVS pharmacy before heading to one of the nearby apartment buildings or the local Metro station. High above, the numerous construction cranes dotting the neighborhood serve as reminder that the frenetic pace of growth in the area shows no signs of slowing.

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Final agenda released — Last chance to register for LOCUS Leadership Summit

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LOCUS/NoMa

In less than a week, leading smart growth developers and investors from across the country will gather in Washington DC for the second annual LOCUS Leadership Summit. With the Summit fast approaching, now is the last chance to join these leaders, as well as exciting speakers like Slate columnist Matthew Yglesias, Congressman Earl Blumenauer and USDOT Deputy Secretary John Porcari, by registering for this one of a kind event!

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Senator Mary Landrieu and LOCUS developer Pres Kabacoff to be honored with 2013 LOCUS Leadership Awards

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Mary Landrieu and Pres Kabacoff
From left: Senator Mary Landrieu with LOCUS Fellow Walker Toma, Smart Growth America Chief of Staff Ilana Preuss and Pres Kabacoff at a meeting on Capitol Hill in 2011. Landrieu and Kabacoff will be honored with this year’s LOCUS Leadership Awards.

Louisiana will take center stage next week in Washington as LOCUS honors two smart growth champions from the Bayou State at its upcoming Congressional Reception.

As part of the second annual LOCUS Leadership Summit, the 2013 Leadership Award will be presented to Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu and Pres Kabacoff, CEO of New Orleans-based developer HRI Properties, for their work to promote smart, sustainable development in Louisiana and across the country.

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Announcing Executive Education Course on Walkable Urban Places

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For more than 50 years, the dominant development model in the United States has been the familiar ‘driveable suburban’ approach. Today however, a structural shift is underway in the real estate market as demand increases for walkable urban development – and the DC region is leading the way.

Now, LOCUS, in collaboration with the George Washington University School of Business and ULI Washington, is proud to announce a five-day executive education course this summer aimed at providing real estate professionals the tools they need to take advantage of this of this market transformation. The course, which will be held from June 10th to 14th in Washington DC, features an impressive line up of developers, elected officials, place managers and others at the forefront of transforming Washington D.C. into the nation’s leading market for walkable urban development.

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LOCUS Steering Committee gathers in Washington to decide policy priorities for coming year

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Each year, the Steering Committee of LOCUS: Responsible Real Estate Developers and Investors gathers in Washington to discuss and set the program’s federal policy agenda.

When LOCUS was formed in 2008, its Steering Committee consisted of a handful of committed real estate developers who believed the voice of the smart growth development community was missing from policy discussions in Washington. In a testament to how the program has grown since that time, our 2013 Winter Steering Committee meeting featured nearly 30 leading real estate developers and investors from across the country including our newest members, Rod Lawrence of The JBG Companies, and Jair Lynch of Jair Lynch Development Partners, both leading developers of walkable development in the DC metro area.

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Private sector leads the way on new light rail in Detroit

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Architect’s rendering of the M-1 light rail. Image via M-1 RAIL Summer 2012 Project Update.

A group of private sector leaders in Detroit are looking toward a new light rail project to help revive the fortunes of the former car capital.

The group is so confident in the potential of a line, known as the M-1 light rail, they’ve put up nearly $90 million in private funding to make the project a reality. If successful, the group would set a new precedent for the “rail as economic development” paradigm, and provide a new model for cities across the country looking to catalyze smart growth.

The proposed line would run 3.4 miles along Detroit’s Woodward Avenue from the New Center neighborhood to downtown and the riverfront, connecting some of the city’s biggest attractions and job centers. The line would run curbside along Woodward Avenue and provide connections to Detroit’s People Mover and Amtrak station, as well as a planned regional bus rapid transit system.

LOCUS

Business leaders tout new rail line as boost to Twin Cities' economic competitiveness at ULI, LOCUS MN event

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The Hiawatha light rail line in downtown Minneapolis, MN is already popular. Photo by Matt Johnson via Flickr.

Leaders in the Twin Cities know that rail transit will be a key component of the cities’ future economic competitiveness, and they’re eager to catch-up with their regional peers in creating a comprehensive transit network.

Since opening in 2004, the Twin Cities’ only light rail line, the Hiawatha Line, has far ridership exceeded expectations. Construction has already begun on the region’s second line, the Central Corridor Line, which will connect downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul and is expected to be completed in 2014. Now, attention is shifting to the Twin Cities’ southwest corridor, home to large corporate office parks and wide highways, where the planned Southwest Corridor Light Rail Transit line has the potential to not only change how people get around, but also the shape of the region’s future development.

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