Case Study

Background:
A Fortune Company wanted to expand its headquarters operations on an urban site adjacent to its existing headquarters. The parcel, the size of a city block, was predominantly a parking lot and had been owned by the company for many years. The City was excited that a redevelopment of the parcel was being considered. The leadership of the Company wanted its investment in a HQs expansion to be linked to a new master plan of the City’s Central Core and a commitment by the City to invest public monies in a renaissance of downtown.

• Master plan the adjacent city block for mixed uses to include the Company’s HQ expansion, residential units, retail use, and an embedded parking structure
• Assist the City in conducting a public process to master plan the city’s 15 block central core
• Execute the mixed use development, including the Company’s HQ expansion
• Convince the City to invest capital in the central core

• Successfully master planned the adjacent city block to include 365,000 sf of office space, 22,000 sf of retail use, 90 condominiums, and a 1,000 space parking structure
• Selected a development manager to partner with the Company and executed the $110 million development plan
• Competitively bid the sale/leaseback of the office and retail structure to a third party owner and negotiated a long term lease that had a starting rent in the single digits per square foot
• Sold the parking structure to the City and retained parking spaces during the work week for the Company’s employees on a preferred basis
• Directed a master planning effort in coordination with the City for the Central Core, which included the placement of a new convention center in the core and the conversion of a pedestrian mall to street traffic to attract retail users. Both of these projects were completed in accordance with the plan
• This public/private effort has lead to further mixed use and retail development, resulting in a more vibrant city core