In this past week we discussed various participants in real estate development. A developer isn't someone who knows everything about developing a piece of real estate but he better know people who know the various components of real estate development. He will rely upon professionals who are experts in their subject area. For my blog, I would like to high-light urban planners and the public entities, particularly in the case of a planned development in Bellingham, Washington.
Georgia-Pacific owned a property that was historically industrial and operated as a pulp and tissue mill from the 1920's until 2007. The 137-acre property was put on the market, but due to the historical operations contamination was pervasive throughout the site. The Port of Bellingham expressed interest in a portion of the property for initial development as a public marina but later decided to purchase the property for full redevelopment of the Bellingham waterfront into mixed-use development including light industrial, commercial, retail, residential and public spaces. Costs to remediate made the property difficult to sell. The Port was able to envision a use for the entire property in addition to other adjacent properties that were being acquired or owned around the Bellingham waterfront. The Port partnered with the City and Department of Ecology in order to make the remediation and redevelopment of the site feasible. A master plan was approved in 2013 detailing the various uses and layout of the entire waterfront district. Planners and the local government took on this project when the private market could/would not. The public nature of the partnering entities and funds available that made this project feasible financially. Additionally, they entire waterfront district could be planned holistically allowing for arguably better integration of uses and serving as a public good.
Source: https://www.djc.com/stories/images/20130520/AerialViewJS2_big.jpg
Source: http://www.ccim.com/sites/default/images/cire-legacy/MarApr07-bilsky-lydia.jpg
2013 Master Plan
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