In most cities, urban edge communities are commonly called “first suburbs” because they were often the early growth corridors outside of the urban core. However, these communities now face the challenges brought upon by the last 50 years of real estate development, heavily dependent on the automobile for connecting people to their daily needs. During the rise of the U.S. interstate highway system, community development focused on low-density, single use buildings, contributing to sprawl and a decline in the quality of the built environment.
We often find that our once vibrant first suburbs struggle with aging housing stock, lack of relevant storefronts and lack of funding for redevelopment. While the urban core tends to have a stronger corporate base, and thus a stronger tax base for redevelopment, the urban edge may lack the corporate backing, but still has the same significant redevelopment needs. Using our staged analytical process to create a vision and a market-based plan that provides relevant options in housing and commercial development, Property Advisors’ adds financing expertise and techniques like Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to bridge funding gaps that often exist in a redevelopment plan in these edge communities. From our experience, these once vibrant urban edges can again be renewed.
Urban edge communities have an opportunity to revitalize their neighborhoods by providing a safe, walk-able environment with relevant residential and commercial options. We have found that, often, urban edge communities do not fully understand the make up and buying power of their residents, and as a result, the residential and commercial options do not align with the demographic and psychographic profile of the community.
Property Advisors offers urban edge clients and partners accurate market metrics, strategies and execution to allow urban edge communities to provide their residents with the right mix of housing and commercial options to generate sustainable growth and vibrancy.