Why Frisco Has Site Selection Mojo

Weitzman has kicked off a major renovation of the 157K SF Fielder Plaza, one of the oldest grocery-anchored retail centers in Arlington. Fielder Plaza, located at 1701 West Randol Mill Road at Fielder Road, opened in 1978. The renovation will add more contemporary elements to the property. The…

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When Mike Wirth moved from the West Village of New York to Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2005, he was looking for the arts. He found it in the NoDa area — a former mill village turned self-proclaimed Arts District that had been known for its gallery crawls, live music and cheap rent since the 1990s.

“I needed that quirky, mixed-use, rehab-type of neighborhood to feel like I belonged,” said Wirth, who is an associate professor in the art, design and music department at Queens University in Charlotte.

Arts districts have traditionally brought life to areas that were previously near poverty lines, drawing creatives who were searching for cheap rent and a sense of community. As the artists create a vibe for an area, others are drawn to it, and arts districts are increasingly being seen as amenities for other development.

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In Case You Missed It...

The area around Howard University is barely recognizable from when Robert Jenkins graduated from the HBCU in 1970.

The Shaw neighborhood has emerged as one of the hottest areas in D.C., with new apartments and retail amenities opening every year and a Whole Foods currently under construction. But 49 years ago, still recovering from the 1968 riots, the neighborhood had little to offer Howard's students. 

"When I finished Howard, it was typical of many HBCUs: a really nice campus, but that section of Georgia Avenue was full of blight," Jenkins said. "You couldn't walk off campus and buy a soft drink. There was nothing there. It was desolate." 

Jenkins, a senior managing director at D.C.-based Renaissance Equity Partners, is now utilizing the opportunity zone program to help spark the transformation of HBCUs' neighborhoods around the country. The firm is launching a $50M opportunity fund to direct capital through the new federal program into mixed-use developments around the campuses of historically black colleges and universities. 

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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has introduced a program to combat what has been seen as a shortcoming of the opportunity zone program so far. HUD released a notice last week announcing the expansion of a pilot program expediting Federal Housing Administration…

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Lisa Pope-Westerman, a hospitality design vet, is launching a new platform that she hopes will solve two concerns she has with the architecture industry. She believes smaller boutique firms aren't getting a proportionate number of projects and that design philosophies too often aren't centered on the customers' experiences. 

Pope-Westerman has created LUCID, a collective of creative individuals and independent firms from around the U.S. that will collaborate to design lifestyle projects.

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After years of planning and a nearly $23M construction budget, the design team behind the renovated Massachusetts State House’s Senate chamber couldn’t help but feel a little anxious in early January. 

It was opening day of the 2019 legislative session and time for the chamber’s carefully restored woodwork — some dating back to when the state's own John Adams was president — to endure its first test. 

“The first time that gavel was hit, I kind of cringed,” CBT associate principal Christos Coios said. “It was a good, almighty whack.”

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