News about redevelopment and regeneration Archives

Golf Courses Remain a Focus for Redevelopment

29.11.2020 News about economic development, News about global real estate consulting, News about outdoor recreation venues, News about redevelopment and regeneration, News About the Golf Industry

Golf courses remain a focus for redevelopment and repurposing as property owners explore greater highest-and-best use for their golf assets.

The interest in such redevelopment is straight-forward. Golf courses were overbuilt in the U.S. and in some global regions, and the 2008 recession decimated many golf owner’s financial resources. At the same time golf participation has steadily declined year over year, at least through 2019 (there is an exception in 2020 due to Covid-19). With this confluence of economic difficulties and ever-changing consumer preferences for their leisure-time activities, in many instances golf course assets offered a tantalizing opportunity for adaptive re-use and repurposing. For many cities and communities with increasing interest in local economic development and specific agendas such as affordable (if not more inclusionary) housing, these golf assets are particularly ripe for highest-and-best-use consideration.

The mega project proposed by Hines for Riverwalk Golf Course in San Diego, will likely spur even greater interest in golf course redevelopment. Golf courses are often situated within attractive residential communities, with reasonable roadway access and ingress/egress for feasible re-purposing as residential projects. Hines found such an opportunity with the Riverwalk site in a decidedly “best case” way – the Riverwalk golf course just happens to be so well-located within its region that it can support substantial mixed-use redevelopment. Hines has proposed such a mega redevelopment project there, which could see in excess of $1 billion in new development.

For more information about golf course redevelopment, we have started tracking such projects as part of our ongoing client project research. We expect golf courses to remain a focus for redevelopment, for some time to come. StoneCreek Partners also tracks other major real estate asset classes, with some of our research and tracking published here online. The link is available here:

Golf Course Redevelopment – the Latest

Hotel Project Feasibility Consultants

22.11.2020 News about hotels and destination resorts, News about redevelopment and regeneration

Our work as hotel project feasibility consultants starts with market analysis and the feasibility of new development, the acquisition and disposition of properties, and a role as owner representative and asset manager on behalf of owner.

Of course, as the hotel industry manages through the difficult circumstances wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic, the focus of much of our consulting work has necessarily changed. Operating occupancies in the U.S. remain at or about 40% (less in many international regions) and travelers have changing preferences for their accomodations.

As a real estate investment asset class, branded hotels and resorts are now in a period of focused reexamination.

Many hotel branded products that have depended upon corporate meetings and travel, are currently obsolescent from an economic standpoint, while other lodging products are proving almost pandemic-proof. As one of the significant real estate investment asset classes, branded hotels and resorts are now in a period of focused reexamination.

Some examples of our recent work as hotel project feasibility consultants, include:

Planning as part of collaborative design teams, to support client mixed-use redevelopment opportunities, particularly as part of solutions for failing shopping malls;

Feasibility, business planning, and conceptual design for new glamping and eco-resort products, recreational vehicle (RV) parks and campgrounds, as well as major recreation adventure resorts;

Assistance to local governments in restarting regional visitor destinations, as a means of boosting local economic development;

More traditional consulting support, such as project feasibility studies for new development, and due diligence for client acquisitions – whether single properties or portfolios.

Our firm’s essential value to clients is our hands-on experience in designing, developing, and operating projects and businesses. StoneCreek Partners is led by co-founder Donald Bredberg and his substantial experience as an executive with The Irvine Company, NBCUniversal, and the Riyadh-based family office of Newfield Enterprises International.

Glamping accommodations conceptual design - Adventure Entertainment Cos.

Glamping and eco-resort accomodations are likely to do well in coming years, as travelers adapt to a world of social distancing and health concerns.

The firm was first established in 1984 in Los Angeles, and is now headquartered in Nevada. Our work as hotel project feasibility consultants got started shortly after the firm’s founding. In those early days, as part of managing a portfolio of luxury hotels for a Saudi family office, our firm’s co-founder Donald Bredberg was one of the initial founder members of the Hotel Asset Manager’s Association.

Additional information about our hotel and resort consulting practice, is available at the link below:

StoneCreek Partners – Hotel, Resort, and Accommodations Consulting Practice

Major Shopping Centers Getting Redeveloped – the Latest

29.10.2020 Mega Projects Tracking and Monitor, News about redevelopment and regeneration, News about themed entertainment and attractions

The major shopping centers getting redeveloped is illustrating the concept of highest-and-best-use for retail properties everywhere.

Trends in product and consumer preferences that were already in progress have been propelled by the events of 2020. Accordingly, these mall repurposing schemes are less about better opportunities for these properties and more about the impact of the Covid-19 shutdown, the resulting failures of anchor retailers, and the continuation of consumer preferences for online shopping, among other factors. Such is the state of the retail industry these days.

There is some good news, in that many retail properties are well-located in their communities, and there are alternative anchors - even all-new uses.

What has emerged is an industry focused upon highest-and-best-use and simply “opportunistic use,” for many of these struggling malls. The feasibility analysis for these potential alternate schemes involves several constituencies, each of which has objectives for these malls that may conflict:

The investors and lenders that have capital tied up in these retail properties have their investment interest and to some extent they are agnostic as to repurposing so long as their capital is well deployed. But repurposing does require new capital!

The local municipalities and county (or state) agencies having jurisdiction also have their role, starting with property and sales taxes.

Then there are the consumers, many of whom have a stake in having a shopping center in their community, and may not take kindly to losing part or all of their local shopping center.

Oh, and then there the tenants themselves who not only chose their locations to based upon co-tenancy provisions and the overall critical mass of clustered tenants.

Clearly, a lot of parties with sometimes conflicting interests, all are involved in major shopping centers getting redeveloped.

The Good News – Good News and Sometimes Good Alternatives

There is some good news. In general, many retail properties are well-located in their communities, along primary traffic corridors, quality ingress/egress, and visibility from approaches zones. These site attributes that worked well for shopping centers, in many instances make for excellent locations for mixed-use repurposing – often at higher densities than prior retail use. This higher density can allow for projects to carry affordable housing components, which is a dire need in most communities.

The other good news is that there are alternative anchors, and even all-new uses. Active mixed-use anchors such as multi-family housing, senior housing and care facilities, sports and recreation venues, health care, local college and universities (and their satellites), and location-based entertainment, can be viable for specific locations. And there are the additional possibilities although not with the same synergies, such as data centers, fulfillment and logistics warehouses, dark groceries, and the like.

Major Shopping Centers Getting Redeveloped and Repurposed

Malls that have obsolescent designs or less than optimal locations given their customer support, are in particular risk during this age of mall transformation.

For More Information

With regard to major shopping centers getting redeveloped – we are tracking announced mall repurposing efforts. This list of such malls is growing each, and we can now refer to our mall redevelopment list, as the Top 100 Mall Redevelopment and Adaptive Re-Use Projects.

Our Top 100 Malls in Redevelopment list is available here:

> Shopping Mall Redevelopment and Re-Use

The World’s Largest Mega Projects – the Latest

29.10.2020 Mega Projects Tracking and Monitor, News about global real estate consulting, News about redevelopment and regeneration

The world’s largest mega projects are tracked in our Global Top 100 index, including primarily private-sector and public-private real estate projects. The largest of these mega projects are typically mixed-use (or multi-use as the Urban Land Institute may suggest), involve regeneration (redevelopment) of existing properties, and cost in excess of USD $1 billion.

There is great variety in these megaprojects. In general, no two are alike since each is customized to its location, setting, and economic circumstances. Some such as the redevelopment of Philadelphia Energy Solutions’ refinery in Philadelphia include a large land area (here, 1,300 acres) and a vision of a huge build-out (15 million square feet). Other mega-projects are developed at much higher densities on smaller project sites. Sunnyside Yard Queen in New York is a proposed $14.5 billion development on 180 acres, that would include 12,000 house units.

During 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has not obviated interest in these projects proceeding, and in fact, new projects have been announced.

The Global Top 100 Mega Projects also include what are essentially, all-new cities. Eko Atlantic in Lagos (Nigeria) is situated on 2,471 acres of coastal landfill and is well into development. Egypt’s new capital city is under construction east of Cairo, and is a massive investment intended to fully replace Cairo in its central governance role.

The public sector is frequently a partner in these projects since the regional economic development impact can be enormous, net of public investment in infrastructure and other incentives.

During 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has certainly impacted the planning and construction of new mega projects, but in general, has not obviated investor and governmental interest in these projects proceeding. In fact, new projects have been announced in the midst of the pandemic.

The World's Largest Mega Projects

Defining a Mega-Project

Most definitions offered for mega projects define such projects as having a capital budget in excess of USD $1 billion. According to the Oxford Handbook of Megaproject Management, “Megaprojects are large-scale, complex ventures that typically cost $1 billion or more, take many years to develop and build, involve multiple public and private stakeholders, are transformational, and impact millions of people.”

For more Information

Our ongoing mega project research is available here > Global Top 100 Mega Projects – the Latest List

Public sector - Economic Development Consultants - Tourism Destination Strategy Consultants

New Research Reveals “Key Drivers” to Propel Urban Economies

24.08.2020 Economic Development Growth Monitor, News about redevelopment and regeneration

AEC’s Growth Monitor

Researchers at Northwestern University have just published some interesting research, about “The universal pathway to innovative urban economies.” The researchers analyzed industrial employment and population changes in 350 U.S. cities between 1998 and 2013, including over 100 million workers.

Key conclusions from the research include an observation that innovative economies start to emerge when an urban population reaches about 1.2 million people. Along with this scale inference, the researchers noted that the transition to an innovative economy depends upon a a city’s ability to attract and retain certain “superlinear industries.” Superlinear industries include the arts, entertainment, professional services, science, and information technology, each of which can grow out of proportion to underlying population growth.

As reported in SciTechDaily, one of the researchers wonders if the remote work promulgated by the COVID-19 virus and distancing may slow down the rate of innovation, in general. The thinking is that innovation may require the spontaneous and serendipitous insights that come with incidental human interactions. This insight certainly rings true for those that have managed collaborative and creative teams; sometimes the best ideas emerge even as the linear ideation and problem-solving proceeds.

An excellent review of the research is available at SciTechDaily, HERE. The research as published is available for full review on the website of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, by clicking here: AAAS Research – The Universal Pathway to Innovative Urban Economies.