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Agenda
CNU NEW ENGLAND MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Join CNU New England membership for a review of the past year and discussion of the Chapter’s future. All are welcome to attend; however, only Chapter members may participate in discussion and vote.
THE BUSINESS CASE FOR SMART GROWTH
What is the size of the Smart Growth real estate market and who are the market leaders? This session provides an overview of the state of Smart Growth from a real estate and capital markets perspective, and presents a business case as to why builders and developers should consider the Smart Growth market to stay competitive in changing times. Topics covered will include placemaking & design, market preferences, price premiums, shifting demographics, and infrastructure cost and phasing.
Speaker:
Lee Sobel, US EPA Office of Polity, Economics, and Innovation
LEED ND
The U.S. Green Building Council has partnered with the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Natural Resources Defense Council to certify projects that integrate the principles of smart growth, urbanism, and green building. The LEED for Neighborhood Development establishes a national standard for neighborhood design and urban development practice. The LEED-ND Pilot Program was issued in February 2007. In response, several projects have been submitted or are preparing their submissions for LEED-ND certification. This session will present an overview of the LEED-ND program, process for certification, and will allow time for questions. It is intended to be an interactive session to provoke ideas and stimulate interest in submitting projects to be selected as a LEED-ND Pilot Project from CNU-New England.
Moderator:
Michelle Lambert – Elkus Manfredi
Speaker:
Daniel Hernandez – Topology LLC, LEED-ND Core Committee Member
NEW HOUSING IN HISTORIC DISTRICTS
This session is a case study of the opportunities and challenges of redeveloping housing in historic districts. The development team from 30 Market Street (Trio) and 61 Market Street (the Birke) in Lowell will discuss their two projects in detail and describe the issues they faced during the design, permitting, construction, and leasing/sales phases. It is an opportunity to not only showcase and celebrate success stories from the host city, but discuss in a broader context the necessity of residential redevelopment focused in our older city centers.
Moderator:
David Grissino – Goody Clancy
Speakers:
David Silverstein – Phoenix Real Estate
John Wardwell – Phoenix Real Estate
Jon Whitney – Janovsky Hurley Architects
Adam Baacke – City of Lowell
ZEN AND THE ART OF COMMUNITY BUILDING
Traditionally in New England, communities immediately assume the “warrior” pose against developers, and government has a difficult time positioning itself to help. For very large developments, there is money to spend to navigate the community process with mitigations that often do not serve the overall quality of life for the community. New Urbanist development projects are more innovative and already bring to the table a more holistic view of growth and community development. How can you as a developer
better navigate the community input process? How can you together with the community discover what opportunities are available? The speakers on this panel will each provide their experiences through the lens of transportation. A lively discussion will certainly follow.
Moderator:
Jeff Rosenblum – Livable Streets Alliance
Speakers:
Chris Hart – Adaptive Environments
Bhupesh Patel – Design Tank
Stephen Burrington Smart Growth and Livable Communities Strategist
NEW URBANISM 101
The rediscovery of traditional development patterns has invigorated the planning industry and given hope that we can create wonderful places again. The session will highlight the basic elements of New Urbanism: harmonious mixed-use neighborhoods, attractive public spaces, walkable interconnected streets, and excellence in architecture and design. Numerous images of recent projects will be used to illustrate the principles of good design.
Introduction:
John Stitzer, PE – Fort Point Associates
Speaker:
Michael Behrendt – City of Rochester, NH
ENGAGING PUBLIC ART AND PLACEMAKING
New England has a well-known history of town and city-building, from its civic greens to its brick townhouses. Yet as suburbs sprawl, the region’s built environment is losing its distinctive qualities. Well-planned public art can counter this trend by reconnecting us to our communities’ special histories and presence.
CNU advocates for design embracing traditionally-successful elements of our built environment, and a well-appointed public realm can contribute to this sense of place. The panel will present case studies of successful public art and cultural programming,
beginning with local examples that have played a prominent
role in Lowell’s renaissance. Presentations will be followed by a mediated discussion of art and its context, focusing on how they succeed, or fail, in creating a genuine sense of place.
Moderator:
Justin Crane – Cambridge Seven Associates
Speakers:
Christina Lanzl – UrbanArts Institute at Massachusetts College of Art
Janet Siebert – City of Austin, TX
Liesel Fenner – Americans for the Arts, Washington, DC
Paul Marion – University of Massachusetts, Lowell
NEW DIRECTIONS IN DESIGN GUIDELINES
New England communities increasingly seek to promote attractive pedestrian-friendly downtowns and town centers that appeal to residents, businesses and visitors alike. They are turning to Design Guidelines to guide streetscape and building development and stimulate new business growth. This panel shows the importance of design guidelines and, using case studies from the region, three different ways of creating and implementing them; grassroots; municipality-driven; and developer/owner self-imposed.
Moderator:
Darlene Wynne – Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.
Speakers:
Douglas Storrs – Cornish Associates
Chuck Parrott – National Park Service
Ann Sussman, AIA – Community Planner
PARKING & STREETS: GETTING IT RIGHT
Panelists will explore how context appropriate street design and inventive parking strategies can energize both old and new urban places using case studies for three innovative New England cities. The session will also include a discussion of the current revolution in street design guidelines, in particular, detailing how Burlington, Vermont is adapting these guidelines to enhance livability.
Moderator:
Jonathan Ford, PE – Morris Beacon Design
Speakers:Lucy Gibson, PE – Smart Mobility
Wesley Marshall, PE – University of Connecticut
Gilbert Hansen, PE – University of Connecticut
DEVELOPER’S ROUNDTABLE
Moderator:
David Dixon – Goody Clancy
Speakers: Buff Chace – Cornish Associates
Tony Green – Pinehills, LLC
Steve Maun – Leyland Alliance
GREENING HISTORIC COMMUNITIES: WHITINSVILLE MILL
Where the Whitinsville Mill once was on the cutting edge of technology by harnessing power before the industrial age, it is once again on the cutting edge. Work is underway on converting this community treasure into a mixed use, sustainable site, that will house a multitude of uses including a restaurant, residential units, a museum, a performing arts & artists space, and a plaza, while combating rising oil and gas costs with a combination of solar, geothermal, and hydropower energy. The project’s developer and architect will discuss public funding for its green initiatives, the challenges of a historic building reuse into a mixed use complex, and sustainable techniques in utilizing local and natural resources.
Moderator:
Andrew Consigli – Elkus Manfredi
Speakers: Dennis Rice – Alternatives Unlimited
Jonathan Austin – Austin Architects
A NEW URBANIST PLAN: CHAMPLAIN COLLEGE
Many master plans are created to look into the future in order to accommodate growth in enrollment. This 21.8-acre urban college’s master plan is different. The plan, created through an inclusive process with its host city and neighbors, sets a course for this 2,000-student institution to make the transition from a commuter campus to a residential one, in ways that respect and enhance one of Burlington, Vermont’s most treasured residential neighborhoods. The college’s commitment will lead to the creation of a vibrant pedestrian environment supported by state-of-the-art transit facilities and management techniques, shared open spaces, and streetscape improvements that will enhance the character of this historic neighborhood.
Moderator:
Russell Preston – Cornish Associates
Speakers:
Dennis Swinford – Goody Clancy,
David Provost – Champlain College
Amy Kohn – Goody Clancy
REDEVELOPING THE NEW ENGLAND VILLAGE: BAR HARBOR, MAINE
Bar Harbor, Maine is the quintessential image of New England’s traditional village district. The principles of New Urbanism are intertwined in this historic world-renowned community. Its walkability, vibrant neighborhoods, classic main streets, mixed use districts, transit stops, village greens, shore paths and waterfront parks all come together as the original model of a New England Village. The redevelopment of a major resort complex along the waterfront brings the developer’s perspective of invigorating New England communities while allowing for change. Components of the development included the redevelopment of the historic Bar Harbor Club, redevelopment of major hotel and restaurant districts and neighborhood streetscapes and pedestrian waterfront access.
Speakers:
Victor Rydlizky – Saratoga Associates
Anne Kreig – Bar Harbor, ME
Bob Baldacci – Ocean Properties
CREATING VALUE: DEVELOPMENT AND THE APPRAISAL PROCESS IN STORRS CENTER, CT
Storrs Center will be a mixed-use town center and main street corridor at the crossroads of the town of Mansfield, Connecticut and the University of Connecticut, representing an assemblage of parcels amounting to approximately 45 acres. The development area largely overlies previously or currently developed property and will be comprised of mixed-use and residential areas. The Storrs Center development team will trace the path of this New Urbanist development project, discussing opportunities and challenges faced during the evolution of the project with special focus on the appraisal process and project marketability.
Speakers:
Dean Amadon, MAI – Amadon & Associates
Patrick Pinnell – Architect & Town Planner
Macon Toledano – Leyland Alliance
Tom Cody – Robinson & Cole
SMART GROWTH ADVOCACY ROUNDTABLE
Leading Smart Growth advocates from across New England will discuss the role of non-profit advocacy organizations in the development process. The session will be a moderated lively discussion with input from attendees highly encouraged.
Moderator:
George Proakis, City of Lowell
Speakers:
Karen Wiener – Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance
Scott Wolf – Grow Smart Rhode Island
Noelle MacKay – Vermont Forum on Sprawl
OVERCOMING REGULATORY OBSTACLES TO NEW URBANIST DEVELOPMENT
This session will address in a roundtable format how effective Southern New England state and local land use policies are at promoting Smart Growth development in general and New Urbanist development in particular. The panel will discuss how municipalities can adopt zoning for compact, mixed-use development
and, specifically, form-based codes. The panel will also discuss whether, because of their unfamiliarity and perceived complexity, form-based codes might discourage municipalities from adopting them and developers from working in communities that use them. The panel will also discuss whether form-based codes might have an unfavorable impact on affordable housing. Participation from the audience will be encouraged.
Moderator:
James O’Connell, Chairman, Massachusetts Zoning Reform Working Group
Speakers:
Attorney Robert Ritchie – Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office
Attorney Joel Russell – Land Use Consultant
James Stergios – Executive Director, Pioneer Institute for Public Policy
Attorney Robert Sitkowski – Robinson & Cole
THE POWER OF AGRICULTURE TO SHAPE URBANISM
Speaker: Robert Orr, AIA – Robert Orr & Associates
WHAT IF WE’RE WRONG?
New Urban philosophy and practice are based largely, if not entirely, on a belief that suburban sprawl and urban blight have stemmed from a confluence of familiar factors: zoning laws,
automobiles, anti-urban mortgage policies, excessive highway building, cheap gasoline, racism, America’s blessing of open space, excessive individualism, and so on goes this well documented list. In this provocative Powerpoint presentation, Matthew Frederick poses a more fundamental query: What generated this lengthy list in the first place? Mr. Frederick argues that the conventional explanations for “disurbanization” fall short of identifying its root cause, and merely list the mechanisms and expedients we have used to organize physical reality in the way we believe inherently correct. This suggests that our culturally embedded, background understandings of reality may ultimately undo our more deliberate efforts to restore urbanism.
Speaker:
Matthew Frederick – Frederick Design Studio
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