The view of Washington, DC from the LOCUS Leadership Summit. (Image: staff)
This week the LOCUS Leadership Summit: Opportunity Rising brought forward-thinking real estate developers and investors who are creating sustainable communities together with local elected officials and transportation and land-use planners. The breadth of topics covered at this year’s Summit reflected the breadth of expertise among attendees. While the conference’s main sessions and keynotes were held on Monday (June 24), walking tours, meetings, and the LOCUS President’s Reception and Awards Dinner took place in the days before and after.
Here’s a short look back at what was caught live on Twitter at #LOCUSSummit2019.
JBG SMITH National Landing Walking Tour
The Summit opened with an afternoon walking tour of National Landing, the site of Amazon HQ2 in Arlington, VA on Sunday, June 23. Participants toured mixed-use developments and public spaces in Crystal City and Pentagon City, including the Crystal City Water Park and JBG Smith Marketing Center. And with JBG Smith leading the tour, participants got a glimpse of how the area will be changing in the years ahead.
Yesterday, we took a walking tour of Amazon's new home with @jbgsmith and saw how Route 1 will be turned into a boulevard (the overpass pictured will be removed) and JBG SMITH is working to make their buildings more street facing rather than inward facing. pic.twitter.com/hzAKt7m6UQ
— Smart Growth America (@SmartGrowthUSA) June 24, 2019
2019 LOCUS Leadership Summit: Opportunity Rising
We kicked off on Monday with two in-depth discussions on the Amazon HQ2 site selection process, featuring insights from Arlington about their winning bid, and a panel of officials from cities that weren’t successful or that decided not to participate at all.
Kicking things off bright and early here at #LOCUSSummit2019! pic.twitter.com/bOd1EPF8ta
— LOCUS Developers (@LOCUSDevelopers) June 24, 2019
Having a supportive land use plan that made it easy to do dense, mixed-use development and provide space to accommodate growth was a deciding factor in #amazonhq2. Planning matters! @winnerspath #CharlotteFuture2040
— Monica Carney Holmes (@MCH_urbandesign) June 23, 2019
@ArlingtonVA County Manager Mark Schwartz says investments in transportation system + education were part of a regional approach to attracting Amazon and the jobs that come with it. #LOCUSSummit2019 pic.twitter.com/tFLvqPrnXB
— LOCUS Developers (@LOCUSDevelopers) June 24, 2019
https://twitter.com/michael_j_huber/status/1143179832483880960
Breakout sessions throughout the day covered topics ranging from Opportunity Zones to climate gentrification.
“Beware of the Taxman: Maintaining OZ Compliance” at the #LOCUSSummit2019 #OppRising2019 pic.twitter.com/CGqRg23tma
— LOCUS MA (@LOCUS_MA) June 24, 2019
How can we make help ensure that #OpportunityZone investments lead to walkable and equitable development? We're working to answer that question at the #LOCUSSummit2019 pic.twitter.com/D8g85PNYsp
— Smart Growth America (@SmartGrowthUSA) June 24, 2019
Amazing panel on Climate Gentrification at the @LOCUSDevelopers Leadership Summit! Check out Dr. Browns @bbwilson3 book– Resilience for All: Striving for Equity Through Community-Driven Design. Procees go to the case study communities doing the work. #ResilenceForAll pic.twitter.com/Iogz30p1sU
— Stephanie Gidigbi (@SimplySJG) June 24, 2019
LOCUS’ First Smart Growth Showcase
LOCUS also hosted the first ever Smart Growth Showcase at the Summit, where five projects in search of development partners were on display for an interactive dealmaking lunch.
Happening now: five smart growth projects from across the country pitching to potential partners and investors. #LOCUSSummit2019 #OppRising19 pic.twitter.com/bfQ9UQKM3m
— LOCUS Developers (@LOCUSDevelopers) June 24, 2019
Just finished pitching #LongWharf “Market District”! Will spend the rest of the day spreading the word to other developers, funders, etc.@MayorHarp @NewHavenDOT @LOCUSDevelopers https://t.co/W9jHRfvGRs
— NH Economic Dev (@NewHavenED) June 24, 2019
Foot Traffic Ahead Released
After a productive dealmaking session, the George Washington University’s Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis (CRUEA), Smart Growth America/LOCUS, Cushman & Wakefield, and Yardi Matrix released Foot Traffic Ahead: 2019 report which ranks the 30 largest U.S. metros on their level of walkable urbanism.
Business parks are dead. Corporate HQs are going to walkable urban places where millennials want to work. @ChrisLeinberger #LOCUSSummit2019
— Sarah Latta Rainero (@SLRainero) June 24, 2019
I worked on the NY region walkup analysis in my past life at RPA, and it’s great to see these national comparisons for my new home of San Antonio. We’ve got a ways to go. @SmartGrowthUSA @LOCUSDevelopers #LOCUSSummit2019 https://t.co/IlbnIeQv4P pic.twitter.com/3TFngQxx2t
— Sarah Serpas (@sarahserp) June 24, 2019
Christopher Leinberger, an author of Foot Traffic Ahead, offered an easy transition to the final session of the day, which focused on utilizing land use regulations as a tool to create equitable, transit-oriented development.
“Our zoning is killing us as a society. And NIMBYism is at the core” – @ChrisLeinberger at the #LOCUSSummit2019 #mapoli time to make a change!
— LOCUS MA (@LOCUS_MA) June 24, 2019
“If we’re not going to pay people a living wage in this country, then we have to have a conversation about where they will live.”
Housing = living wage = transportation… all of this is connected. Time for people to see that.#LOCUSSummit2019 @LOCUSDevelopers
— Jenna Fortunati (@jennafortunati) June 24, 2019
Thank you to everyone who attended this year’s Summit and shared their knowledge and enthusiasm for smart growth. We look forward to hearing about how you’re using what you learned back home and creating more equitable, prosperous, and resilient places.