Press Releases

Strategic asset management and downtown as a mixed-use development

(Boonton, NJ, January 26, 2006) — In contrast to regional malls, most downtowns in this country have little or no strategic asset management thinking in place. This is in spite of the fact that downtowns, even downtowns in communities of fewer than 5,000 people, are probably larger than the biggest retail project in their town, city, or metropolitan area.

In the December 15 issue of Downtown Idea Exchange newsletter, Christopher Leinberger, professor and director of the real estate program at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, asks “What does a hotshot shopping mall manager have that a downtown manager does not?”

He notes three things: A strategy, an asset management plan to implement it, and money. The nonprofits and private/public partnerships that implement downtown asset management strategies must have better funding from the private sector, he says. Through assessments or some other mechanism, the best downtown managers have the biggest budgets. “Downtown managers should not be hesitant to propose broader scope of services along with higher levels of service and ask for the funding to pay for them. It will be a ‘win/win’ situation for all,” says Leinberger.

The full text of the article is online at http://www.DowntownDevelopment.com/perspectives.php.

About Downtown Idea Exchange

Downtown Idea Exchange newsletter reports on downtown problems and solutions in an effort to provide a focus for revitalizing our cities.

Website: http://www.DowntownDevelopment.com