New Urbanism and Mixed Use Development Trends

More than 500 developers and consultants attended a two-day Urban Land In-stitute “Placemaking” conference at Reston Town Center in Virginia in mid-September. The strong turnout was indicative of the industry interest in building mixed-use projects centered on main streets or designed as downtown districts.

Mixed-use, new urban projects are “hot” in the development industry, yet they require far more skill to pull off successfully than the typical suburban shopping center, office park, or apartment complex.

Another trend is the growing willingness to have residential units permeate the core of mixed-use developments.

Apparently a significant segment of the population will pay a premium to live on top of urban amenities. This principle may also apply to lodging. Easton Town Center, a highly successful 1.5 million-square-foot project in Columbus, Ohio, has three hotels at 83 percent occupancy, although the project is not near any tourist attractions. “These environments are good for hospitality,” said Yaromir Steiner, one of the project developers.

Easton, however, doesn’t have any residential, which brings up a category of projects called “lifestyle centers.” These borrow from New Urbanism in design, but focus almost exclusively on retail.

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