16 Inspiring Placemaking Developments | United States
Paulo Soeiro | via Unsplash
“Lively, diverse, intense cities contain the seeds of their
own regeneration, with energy enough to carry over
for problems and needs outside themselves.”
~ Jane Jacobs
In the 1960s. Jane Jacobs and William “Holly” Whyte helped lead the movement for then-groundbreaking ideas about designing places around people first then cars, highways, and suburban sprawl after. They believed that a lively neighborhood and inviting public spaces would make for happier people and more connected communities.
Over the last few decades, many placemaking efforts became a formulaic version of “Live. Work. Play.” In 2015, the sarcastic but keep it real South Park brought us their skit, The Lofts at SoDoSoPa, the name is inspired by its locale: "South of Downtown South Park." The mixed-use development is all about buzzwords while lacking the vision needed to ensure that the locale thrives. It’s the fast-food of placemaking. A few episodes later, SoDoSoPa falls apart when Whole Foods moves into a competing locale.
New Urbanism has been discussed for years but now we must think about place resilience, place keeping, alongside a long-term approach to the equitable planning, design, and management of places so that all people who engage with them can thrive.
As we navigate this new normal and begin to plan developments for generations to come, here are some past, present, and future placemaking developments that have inspired our thinking when we advise our clients. From stunning urban waterfronts to a beach destination created on a once-remote road, to the conversion of a historic jail in Virginia, these development teams inspire us to ask:
How can we build better places, even if we have to create something that has never been done before?
Editor’s note: Some language has been adapted from the developer’s website or the published sources to ensure transparency and accuracy. All sources and contributors have been noted and credited.
Artist Rendering | via The Yards DC
Washington, D.C. : The Yards ➤
The Navy Yard neighborhood was Washington's earliest industrial neighborhood, situated at the natural deepwater port. Once completed, The Yards will have 3.4 million square feet of new development across 10 buildings that will cover 48 acres, 6 of those acres with water frontage. 2 million square feet is slated for office space, 400,000 square feet for shopping and dining space plus 3,400 residential units and 7.5 acres of public green space. Phase I, which began in 2010 focused on the reuse and conversion of several historic Navy Yard structures, integrated with architecturally compatible new development, resulting in hundreds of beautiful residences, restaurants, and thoughtful public spaces for the community.
The recently announced Phase II will deliver office, mixed-income residential offerings, restaurants, retail, and public amenities at the center of the Capitol Riverfront. Notably, Phase II will introduce Yards Place, a curb-less, cobblestone, pedestrian-oriented main street that runs from the Navy Yard Metro to the new Diamond Teague park on the Anacostia riverfront. Design teams were chosen for future-thinking designs and precise attention to detail in past projects and biophilic design elements. Buildings will be built to LEED Gold standards and will maximize opportunities for solar energy wherever possible. Learn more about The Yards
What we love: Optimus Ride, the on-demand autonomous vehicles service gives passengers access to their electric fleet to schedule rides at to seven stops across The Yards and to external locations at Capitol Hill and Barrack’s Row
Developed by Brookfield Properties
Source: Hill Rag | The Yards About to Become Region’s Largest Waterfront Development
South Main| via South Main
Buena Vista, CO : South Main ➤
When Jed Selby realized that the 41-acre parcel separating Buena Vista from the Arkansas River was on the market, he and his sister Katie began brainstorming about a world-class whitewater park alongside an environmentally friendly development. These two visionaries saw the opportunity to create a design that kept the river corridor open to the public and available to river enthusiasts everywhere. They also saw the potential to create a community designed around getting people out of their cars and talking to their neighbors during their walk to the market, coffee shop, or kayak wave.
They discovered New Urbanism and quickly realized that its architecture and design aspects would be efficient and effective at creating the walkable, pedestrian-friendly community they envisioned. Tree-lined streets, mixed-use residences, green buildings, and a conscientious land-use design were elements that truly spoke to their commitment to visualize, design, and build South Main on these principles. Through a week-long public process, a team of New Urbanist architects and planners developed a plan for South Main based on community support and Buena Vistans' direct input. This design approach gave the development team an opportunity to truly enhance a community that they know and love. Learn more about South Main
What we love: South Main proves that you can have walkable, healthy, places that encourage people to gather in a setting that is anything but urban. It just takes some vision and planning.
Developed by South Main Co
Source: South Main Co | Neighborhood Page
Crosstown Concourse | via Crosstown Arts
Memphis, TN : Crosstown Concourse ➤
Erected in 1927 as a Sears, Roebuck & Company distribution center, Crosstown Concourse is the success story of when a Memphis arts non-profit turns a massive warehouse into a "vertical urban village,” earning LEED Platinum status in the process. The product of nearly five generations of innovators, dreamers, and builders, a group led by Todd Richardson and McLean Wilson discussed how they could turn that big adjacent empty structure into a facility that echoed their artistic vision. So they drew up a plan that combined office, retail, residential, and various other amenities inside one structure. The warehouse would also be peppered with artwork, bringing color and verve to what was then an eyesore. In 2010, this group of artists formed a nonprofit, called Crosstown Arts, dedicated to redeveloping the building.
Within seven years, their pie-in-the-sky vision has become an astonishing reality, opening in August of 2017. Crosstown Arts attracted multiple project partners, with 31 sources of financing including private money, philanthropy, bank debt, Historic Tax Credits, New Markets Tax Credits, and monies from the City and County. Major private financiers included SunTrust and Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group. Some of the equity was provided thanks to $56 million in New Markets Tax Credit allocation and $36.5 million in Historic Tax Credits allocation. The final project costs were $210 million. Learn more about Crosstown Concourse
What we love: This was not your traditional development site; it took the vision of a non-profit coupled with some creative financing to make happen. Proof that not only “real estate people” can be developers.
Developed by Crosstown Arts, a 501(c)3 non-profit
Source: Market Urbanism Report | America's Progressive Developers, Memphis Edition: Crosstown Concourse
Aerial view of Seaside, Florida | via Little House Co.
Seaside, FL : Seaside ➤
Seaside has become one of the best examples of placemaking. In the late 1970’s Daryl Rose and Robert Davis took a three-month trek through Italy and France, and observed how downtown areas were built to last hundreds of years. They then reflected on how in the United States, developers put in a lot of roads and started building houses with commercial concepts as an afterthought.
Robert’s grandfather gave him the opportunity to develop 80 acres of land on a remote county road in northwest Florida. It was a stunning place but had no infrastructure. Robert made the decision to build north of the beach instead of on the beach so that everyone could access it. The first buildings to go up were a red model house, and a yellow house built next door where the couple lived. There was little advertising budget, so they came up with creative ideas to bring people in. On Saturdays, Daryl would drive to one town to buy wholesale vegetables, another for baguettes, pick some blueberries, then ran newspaper advertisements for their Seaside Saturday farmers market. “I sat up an elaborate vegetable stand and would just sit there waiting for someone to come by,” she remembers. We created and developed activities to draw people. We had watermelon-seed-spitting contests, tall-tale nights, and costume contests. Anything that was neighborly.”
Seaside now has more than 300 homes built on several streets surrounding the town district, 12 restaurants, and 41 shops and galleries. It has been featured on the Cooking Channel’s Emeril’s Florida, was named the Best Beach on Earth for families by Travel + Leisure magazine, was included in USA Today’s Top 10 Best Beach Towns in Florida 2013 by Dr. Beach, and it was the primary location for the filming of the movie “The Truman Show.” “It has an intimacy about it. It’s friendly and familiar, not a mystery, like standing outside a bakery and smelling fresh cookies. The buildings are human scale and neighborly, with mom and pop businesses, making them more personable. Retailers have been here so long they are able to welcome people back, calling them by name. Seaside is inclusive as opposed to exclusive,” Daryl said. Learn more about Seaside
What we love: We loved the deep dive into Robert & Daryl Davis Partners in Life and Business 1: Robert and Daryl Davis and the home that they built for their family in A New Urbanism Visionary Looks Back
Developed by Seaside Community Development Corp.
Source: Florida Headline News| Daryl Davis, Seaside co-founder, and 30A trailblazer: ‘It’s like karma, and was meant to be’
Liberty | via The Alexander Company
Lorton, VA : Liberty ➤
Liberty is the transformation of the historic Lorton Reformatory into a vibrant urban village. The development includes loft-style apartments, single-family and townhomes, retail and restaurants, and collaborative office spaces. The property is on the National Register of Historic Places, making this an exciting adaptive reuse in Fairfax County, Virginia. Lorton, originally commissioned by Theodore Roosevelt in the early 20th century, was created as a facility where inmates in the District of Columbia could be rehabilitated by acquiring new trade skills – a philosophy considered to be a daring experiment in penology for that era. Roosevelt believed a prisoner’s rehabilitation could be improved if provided with fresh air, natural light, and a place to live and work. With this in mind, the reformatory was designed as a campus and constructed by the prisoners themselves using bricks manufactured in on-site kilns and lumber cut from trees on the property. The dormitory-style buildings are laid out in a way that provides abundant natural light and open green space, contrary to traditional cell blocks.
The first phase of the master-planned development delivered 165 historic apartments, 83 new townhomes, 24 new single-family homes, a clubhouse, a swimming pool, and historic retail and commercial space – the Chapel and Powerhouse. Having sat a vacant, historic landmark since 2001, Lorton Reformatory was the final piece of the puzzle that is the Laurel Hill Adaptive Reuse Area. Learn about Liberty
What we love: The Alexander Company has one of the most beautiful portfolios of adaptive reuse projects that we’ve ever seen. Feeling very inspired.
Developed by The Alexander Company, in partnership with Elm Street Development and Fairfax County
Source: The Alexander Company | The Final Piece of the Puzzle
Artist rendering | via Moso Studio
Manhattan, NY : Essex Crossing ➤
Essex Crossing is a collection of over 1,079 units of housing, 350,000 square feet of Class A office space, and 300,000 square feet of retail space, including The Market Line, which will be the City’s largest marketplace upon completion. 1,000 new residences, 350,000 square feet of office space, 100,000 square feet of green space, and 300,000 square feet of retail spaces that will enhance the culture and unique flavor of New York City’s Lower East Side. Recently called “one of New York’s most promising mixed-use developments” by The New York Times, Essex Crossing comprises 1.9 million square feet of residential, commercial, and community space in the heart of the Lower East Side.
Essex Crossing’s nine sites on six acres had sat mostly vacant since 1967 and represent one of the most significant urban renewal developments in New York City’s history. In an effort to reunite the community and address a citywide need for affordable housing, Delancey Street Associates worked with local residents and stakeholders to reimagine the underused space as a mixed-use community. The goal of the project was to create an equitable and inclusive model of mixed-income housing while facilitating a new approach to commercial development. With a focus on preserving the original character of the neighborhood while also meeting the needs of the local community, Essex Crossing stands as a testament to how thoughtful public-private partnerships can acknowledge past wrongs and work toward a united future. The complex is now home to a public park, provides access to local-cost groceries and fresh food, and has varied retail options – all deemed needed amenities by the community. Learn more about Essex Crossing
What we love: The New York Times proclaimed that “Essex Crossing Is The Anti-Hudson Yards” in this 2019 piece; our founder spent part of her childhood on the Lower East Side. This development truly is enhancing the neighborhood that surrounds it.
Developed by Goldman Sachs, BFC Partners, Delancey Street Associates, Grand Street Settlement, L&M Development Partners, Taconic Investment Partners, The Prusik Group.
Source: ULI Americas | 2021 ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Finalist
Artist Rendering| via One Paseo
San Diego, CA : One Paseo ➤
One Paseo is a mixed-use master-planned project incorporating office, residential and retail space. The project includes over 40 curated shops and restaurants, ~286,000 square feet of office space, 96,000 square feet of retail space, and over 600 luxury apartment residences. We found this retail brochure by Retail Insite to be helpful to understand the vision, layout, and flow of the development. The craftsman-style buildings feature primarily wood frame construction, intricate details, and various finish materials to create a community-oriented environment. The neutral color palette for the buildings allows the merchandise and tenants to be the focal point.
Additional amenities incorporated within the retail landscape design include a children’s play area with a climbing art log, a relaxing fire pit area, a community workout area, and a lawn area for events adjacent to the residences and offices. The restaurants in One Paseo feature a mix of first-to-market locations like Blue Bottle and locally owned Parakeet Cafe with outdoor dining and plazas. From the moment you arrive, it feels like it was worth the trip. Everything about the place is just…easy. Laidback, stylish but not tragically hip. Cool, but in a warm, welcoming sort of way. Learn more about One Paseo.
What we love: This is a place that offers excellent short or longer-term customer journeys, and continues to be a true destination. You don’t have to live or work here to make it the place that you want to be.
Developed by Kilroy Realty
Source: Retail Insite| One Paseo Retail Brochure
Artist rendering | via Centennial Yards
Atlanta, GA : Centennial Yards ➤
Centennial Yards, the $5 billion, 50-acre mixed-use development in Downtown Atlanta follows several years of development planning for the downtown project site, 50 acres of parking lots, and former rail yards that have been collectively known as the Gulch. In all, the joint venture development will build 12 million square feet of retail, office, residential, hotel, and entertainment space at the site, as well as new infrastructure and open space.
Centennial Yards South announced the start of construction for the adaptive reuse of 99 Ted Turner Dr., which will offer about 80,000 square feet of creative office space and 50,000 square feet of retail, and construction for the rehabilitation of 185 Ted Turner Dr. Also starting is construction for the Canyon, 740-foot-long pedestrian promenade between buildings and the site’s viaduct. The walkway will offer dining, entertainment, and other activities. The Lofts at Centennial Yards South is expected to be ready for occupancy in the summer. It will reserve about 25 units, 15 percent of the total, for lower-income households. It will also include 27 furnished apartments targeting corporation relocation and film industry demand. Learn more about Centennial Yards
What we love: Atlanta is going to bring the vision for how an incredible downtown district can be shaped, and take on an energy of its own.
Developed by CIM Group and an investor group led by Atlanta Hawks principal owner Tony Ressler
Source: What Now Atlanta | Centennial Yards Hits New Completion, Construction Milestones
Artist Rendering| via SOM
Chicago, IL : Bronzeville Lakefront ➤
Earlier this year, the Chicago Plan Commission approved a $3.8 billion effort to overhaul the property now known as Bronzeville Lakefront. The property, once home to the Michael Reese Hospital and Medical Center, founded in 1881, was one of Chicago’s oldest until its 2009 demolition. The city bought the 50-acre property as it was prepping for its failed 2016 Olympic bid. Since then, it’s been floated as a possible location for everything from Amazon HQ2 to the Lucas Museum to a Chicago casino. The development team hopes to complete Phase I by 2026. The redevelopment of the full site is expected to be a two-decade effort. The first phase of the redevelopment is set to include the ARC Innovation Center, an equity-focused research arm of Israel’s renowned Sheba Medical Center.
In addition to the ARC Innovation Center, the site is also slated to have market-rate and affordable housing, including for seniors, retail with discounted rent for some local businesses, green space, and a community center. Urban designer Dawveed Scully is a South Side native and a graduate of Illinois Tech, just a mile away from the site. He says true community engagement is a way to not just win support but to create something that feels like it’s part of Bronzeville.“It’s not just a new building here and a new park here. The folks here in the community need to feel like it’s part of Bronzeville, it’s not a separate district, it’s not a gated community,” Scully said. Learn more about Bronzeville Lakefront
What we love: This is truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive real estate development, with the community actively engaged as stakeholders.
Developed by GRIT, the development partnership, is comprised of Farpoint Development, Loop Capital Management, McLaurin Development Partners, Draper & Kramer, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, and Bronzeville Community Development Partnership.
Source WTTW News | Team Overhauling Former Michael Reese Site Aims for Community Connections
Artist Rendering| via Strategic Property Partners
Tampa, FL : Water Street Tampa ➤
Water Street Tampa will encompass three phases and will include 3,500 rental and condominium units, 2 million square feet of office space, two hotels offering more than 650 rooms, and 1 million square feet of retail and entertainment space. The city of Tampa is contributing $200 million for infrastructure (public utilities, roads, central cooling). In total, an estimated 23,000 people will live, work, and visit Water Street Tampa each day when it is complete.
This is the world's first neighborhood development to achieve the WELL Design & Operations designation under the WELL Community Standard. WELL is a wellness and health standard set by the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). The standard incorporates a smoking ban, air quality standards, reduction of volatile organic compounds, and mold/microbe control. The developer in charge, Strategic Property Partners, is a joint venture between Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and Cascade Investment, the investment firm funded by Bill Gates. Cascade is very much a silent partner, Vinik, and Strategic Property Partners are the public faces of the development. Learn more about Waterfront Tampa
What we love: The first hotel-branded residences in the region, coming via EDITION
Developed by Strategic Property Partners and Jeff Vinik
Source: Bisnow | Tampa: The New Austin, Texas? $3.5B Project From Bill Gates, Jeff Vinik Leads Development Boom
Central Green | via Navy Yard Philadelphia
Philadelphia, PA : The Philadelphia Navy Yard ➤
Since acquiring the 1,200-acre site from the federal government in 2000, PIDC, Philadelphia’s public-private economic development corporation and master developer of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, has led the planning, development, and operation of the Navy Yard on behalf of the Philadelphia Authority for Industrial Development (PAID). PIDC’s mission is to spur investment, support business growth, and foster developments that create jobs, revitalize neighborhoods and drive growth to every corner of Philadelphia.
POLITICO has called the Navy Yard “the coolest shipyard in America” and many industry observers, including the Urban Land Institute, have recognized the community as a leading model for repurposing military and industrial assets for a diversified modern economy. Home to reimagined shipbuilding facilities as well as new high-performance and energy-efficient construction, the Navy Yard has a variety of flexible buildings with different heights, vintages, and floorplates, powered by a nationally recognized microgrid and oriented around iconic parks, Complete Streets, and a riverfront greenway.
Today, the Navy Yard is an expanding community of nearly 15,000 employees and 170 employers who occupy 7.5 million square feet of facilities across a mix of property types, including office, retail, industrial, R&D, and institutional. These employers include the Urban Outfitters headquarters; GSK’s North American headquarters; Jefferson Health; life science and technology startups; manufacturers; corporate R&D, including Axalta’s Global Innovation Center; critical U.S. Navy engineering centers; and a graduate engineering, business, and research campus for Penn State University. In recent years, the Navy Yard’s total employment has steadily expanded by approximately 1,000 new employees per year and will support an additional 10 million square feet of commercial and residential development at full buildout. Learn more about The Philadelphia Navy Yard
What we love: The Philadelphia Navy Yard is The Coolest Shipyard in America says POLITICO. We are excited for how it will continue to evolve.
Developed by PIDC, Mosaic Development Partners, and Ensemble Real Estate Investments
Source: Navy Yard Philadelphia | About Us
Artist Rendering| via Brookfield Properties
San Francisco, CA : Pier 70 ➤
In partnership with the Port of San Francisco, Brookfield Properties is leading the development of Pier 70 which will include 1.8 million square feet of office space, just under 1,200 residences, 250,000 square feet of historic space, 115,000 square feet of retail, 90,000 square feet dedicated to the arts, and 50,000 square feet of maker space. Pier 70 will establish a real estate and operational creative platform for innovation and cross-pollination across technology, arts, making, and design to create a vibrant mixed-use district.
Buildings once filled with ironworkers sat empty for decades. Purely in terms of historic preservation, the rebirth of Pier 70 already is an architectural triumph. World War II brought another round of construction, including a massive shed-like fabrication shop and a six-story concrete warehouse, both of which remain. But work tapered off after the 1950s, and owner Bethlehem Steel sold Pier 70 in 1982 to the Port of San Francisco for $1. Learn more about Pier 70
What we love: This is an excellent case study on how to preserve and reuse large-scale industrial spaces
Developed by Brookfield Properties
Sources: Brookfield Properties | Pier 70 Property Details and San Francisco Chronicle | At San Francisco's Pier 70, everything that's old is new again
Artist Rendering | via Rafael Vinoly Architects
Cupertino, CA : Vallco Town Center ➤
The largest green roof in the world will shelter a mixed-use complex under a 30-acre, fully accessible public park that restores the pre-development character of the Cupertino landscape. For the Vallco Town Center in Cupertino, California, landscaping, public amenities, residential uses, circulation, and views are layered in an innovative manner to create a unique open space environment rich in a variety of experiences.
The project was driven by several overarching objectives, including clearing an existing mall, a bridged superblock; integrating the site by breaking it down into pedestrian-friendly blocks; creating a civic icon, and introducing a dynamic mixed-use environment for neighbors and visitors. The ground-level blocks contain a variety of retail, restaurant, and entertainment amenities that face the street and surround multi-story integrated parking garages at the centers of the blocks. An undulating roof above reduces the apparent massing of the development.
More than 80 percent of the total site area is covered with this publicly accessible green roof—a landscaped parkland with sports, recreational, and cultural programs—a significant new urban amenity for the city. The roof meets the ground along the western edge of the site, allowing access directly from the street to recreational paths that follow the roof as it slopes above the buildings. The paths then span above the streets and connect the green roof sections overhead. Learn more about Vallco Town Center
What we love: We are excited to see the longest green roof in the world come to life.
Developed by Sand Hill Property Co
Source: Rafael Vinoly Architects| Works | Vallco Town Center
Artist Rendering | via Westbank
San Jose, CA : Downtown San Jose ➤
The new projects would renovate a historic highrise, develop eye-catching new towers, add hundreds of homes, build 5 million square feet of offices, add restaurants and retail, and create enough space for 40,000 workers, according to plans being circulated by global developer Westbank and local developer Gary Dillabough. The projects from Westbank, combined with Google’s transit-oriented Downtown West neighborhood, could potentially transform San Jose’s quiet downtown into a vibrant urban core. Westbank’s gleaming new towers would replace parking lots and properties that have stagnated, as well as renovate the Bank of Italy historic tower. Most of the five projects must work their way through the city approval process. Development of Park Habitat and a full revamp of the Bank of Italy tower are expected to be the first ones to get underway with construction.
“What interests me in San Jose is that there is a canvas where we can make a meaningful impact relatively quickly,” said Ian Gillespie, chief executive officer of Westbank. Westbank’s initiative starts with five projects that would sprout at six locations in downtown San Jose. Westbank aims to create a new kind of campus downtown, potentially a decade or more in the making. Silicon Valley’s jaw-dropping advances in technology and life sciences have created a third industrial revolution — and created a region dotted by industrial parks and walled-off campuses and freeways choked by vehicles.
Other ventures are underway as well downtown. Adobe is constructing a striking new office tower to expand the tech titan’s downtown San Jose headquarters campus. Veteran developer Jay Paul plans several new office towers. Learn more about Westbank’s vision for Downtown San Jose
What we love: Designboom does a deep dive into the vision, and each of the collaborators in westbank is transforming san jose with a star-studded team of architects
Developed by Westbank
Source: The Mercury News | Dramatic downtown San Jose revamp comes into focus — new plans are just the start
Artist Rendering | via River Park
Austin, TX : River Park ➤
The 97-acre mixed-use development slated for 4700 East Riverside Drive has a new name, River Park and a master plan that includes the addition of a 12-acre retail center. Bordered by the Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metro Park and Country Club Creek, the development will feature access to the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail and more than 30 acres of public parkland and urban trails. It will also be served by a forthcoming light rail line planned under Project Connect, the $7.1 billion transit overhaul that Austin voters recently chose to fund.
The developer behind River Park, Presidium, shared its vision for the project, which will include 10 million square feet of offices, shops, hotels, parks, and homes, as well as 400 affordable residences. River Park is scheduled to be built in phases over the next two decades, with a preliminary start date planned for 2023. Austin City Council voted 6-3 in October 2019 to approve zoning changes for the site. “The location and size of River Park provide a unique opportunity to solve and address some of Austin's biggest challenges such as housing supply, affordability, connectivity, and mobility—all on an urban-infill site within five minutes of downtown," says Presidium Director of Development Michael Piano. Learn more about River Park
What we love: River Park has the opportunity to answer the challenge of how to accommodate an urgent need for more dense environments in Austin while providing value to a community that fears being displaced.
Developed by Presidium
Source: Austin American-Statesman | Developers expand planned mixed-use project along Austin's East Riverside Drive
MAYBE ONE DAY
The Packard Project | via Yvette van de Velde
Detroit, MI : Packard Plant ➤
Sadly, in October 2020 the plan to rebuild the 45-acre Packard Plant was scrapped, but we remain optimistic that the right development team will ultimately prevail.
The Packard Plant changed how industrial buildings are built. In the early 1900’s Local architect Albert Kahn to design the company's complex. The first nine buildings followed the typical mill-style factory buildings of the time, with cramped rooms, wooden columns, floors, and ceilings, and very little natural light. The tenth building, Packard #10, was built using only reinforced concrete, allowing for the large open spaces and floor-to-ceiling windows that he wanted to provide for workers, along with much safer working conditions. This was the first industrial building to use reinforced concrete for floors, ceilings, and columns. By 1910, the Packard Car Company had the largest auto plant in the United States. The complex would eventually comprise four million square feet of factory space and employ up to 40,000 workers at its peak.
The Plant, once a sprawling producer of Packard Gray Wolfs, Super Eights, and, in wartime, engines for P-51 Mustang fighter planes, slowly lost steam as the world changed around it. Meanwhile, the structural integrity of the plant is incredibly strong. Mark Kosin writes in Medium, “The Midwest is undergoing a sweeping transformation as many are eager to walk along familiar downtown streets and inhabit the brick and steel manufacturing that propelled this region to the behemoth of industry and agriculture it was at the turn of the century. A number of buildings stand out at the forefront of this Midwestern renewal. These are their stories.” The new development team is TBD.
Learn more about the Packard Plant
What we love: They don’t build them like this anymore, and we want to be a part of the movement to save places vs. demolishing them. With the right vision, the Packard Plant could be reimagined and could enhance the community.
Developed by…to be continued
Source: Detroit News | Grand plan to redevelop Packard plant is scrapped; eyesore goes back on the market
These are just a few of the incredible placemaking developments out there. Butterfly Voyage hopes that this post inspires and encourages you to learn about them. We will continue to discover and share. On a personal note, we are looking to move. We’ve always been city people, first New York and now San Francisco. So, where to next?
If you found this useful, please forward it to a colleague or friend.
Butterfly Voyage offers Fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) services to elevate the marketing strategy for real estate developers and new developments. Please reach out to meg@butterflyvoyage.com to begin the conversation.
A thank you to our Butterfly Voyage industry insiders and contributors, with a special thank you to Placemakers Guild. Their perspectives, insights discussion, and support were a key part of making this piece come to life
