New York’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative provides funding to help improve the urban cores of struggling downtowns throughout the State. The program awards communities $10 million each to invest in redevelopment projects that leverage private investment, with 10 new downtowns selected each year. RESGroup, working with BFJ Planning, has participated in all five rounds of the DRI in locations throughout the Capital Region, Southern Tier, and Mid-Hudson. RESGroup completed the market and real estate analyses, helping the community identify transformative projects to spur equitable and sustainable economic development, increase job opportunities, and improve resilience and quality of life.
Given the locations and sizes of these markets and the resulting lack of 3rd party data sources for real estate market statistics, RESGroup completed extensive stakeholder interviews, including developers, brokers, property owners, tenants, major employers, and local authorities to understand market dynamics, and to obtain feedback on their vision for their revitalized downtowns. Economic and demographic trends were also analyzed to provide a context for the interviews, and other market research was also conducted.
Uses including residential, retail, entertainment/cultural, office, hotel, industrial, light industrial/maker space were all considered depending on the DRI location. RESGroup analyzed selected projects by the community and State to determine the financial feasibility and the need for funding from the DRI program and other available incentive programs.
Common issues and findings were identified despite the many different locations, including: the need for gap funding to convert upper floors to apartments and renovate dilapidated buildings; the impact of short-term rentals on housing affordability and worker shortages for local businesses; the impact of local “anchors” (large employers, cultural venues, destination retailers) and apartment development on downtown vitality; and the impact of marketing, signage, and coordination between different businesses to maximize pedestrian traffic and visitation.
Case studies were also conducted depending on the DRI location and the challenges they faced, addressing a broad range of subjects, including how other communities successfully created arts districts, or dealt with short-term rentals (“STR”). Case study locations were determined collaboratively with the DRI planning committee, with RESGroup performing socio economic research and extensive interviews with stakeholders in the areas studied to identify critical success factors and lessons learned.
In total, nearly 30 projects were completed, under construction, or in the advanced planning stages including: new workforce housing, the conversion of upper floor space in main street buildings to residential use, expanding local businesses to increase economic opportunity, enhancing streetscapes and building facades, and renovating/creating new cultural, recreational, and athletic facilities to improve quality of life and increase vitality in the downtown.
