By Jim Baer
William H. Hudnut III, former
four-term Mayor of Indianapolis and Congressman, author, public speaker, TV commentator and currently Senior Resident Fellow, Urban Land Institute (ULI) Joseph
C. Canizaro Chair for Public Policy, Washington, D.C. knows a thing or two about land utilization.
The former mayor and congressman paid a recent visit to St. Louis to deliver a pep talk to ULI St. Louis, a district council of the Urban Land Institute. He was keynote speaker at the Public/Private Partnership meeting of ULI at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
As part of his address, he asked anyone in the audience who had ever worked on a land utilization contract, negotiated a deal or been part of the process to please stand up. Half the room rose to its collective feet.
Hudnut, mixing humor and metaphors was at his best mainly, "preaching to the choir."
Best known for his 16-year-tenure as Mayor of Indianapolis, he rebuilt that important midwestern city from the core out. The City hosted the 1987 Pan American Games, and he spearheaded the effort to create the first urban housing complex in Indy in
modern times.
Much a student of the game, Hudnut is well versed in bringing urban core development to downtown St. Louis (more on that later).
Hudnut looks at successful urbanization as a four-way partnership. For the affable community leader, this is all part of his popular four-legged stool analogy.
The legs of his stool are supported by public groups (non-profit organizations); for-profit private groups (the development industry), government and stakeholders.
"We need the inner part of cities to look more like a Toll House cookie than a doughnut," said the Mayor. By that he meant cities need to be solid throughout the middle. Hudnut offers ten principals for successful public/private partnerships including preparing properly for public/private partnerships; creating a shared vision; understanding
partners and key players; being clear on risks and rewards while establishing a clear and rational decision making process. Additionally, the ten principals includes making sure all parties do their homework; secure consistent and coordinated leadership; communicate early and often; negotiate a fair deal structure and build trust as a core value.
In essence, Hudnut wants urban developers to "Renew, reinvent and redevelop the downtown portion of cities around the country."
These are the core values of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) of Washington, D.C. "We are not a lobbying group, rather the institute is a non-profit education and research institute whose mission is to provide responsible leadership in the use of land in order to enhance the total environment."
Hudnut likes to serve up urban revitalization projects as shining examples. Atlantic Station in Atlanta is one that stands out. "When I got off the plane in Atlanta, I ran almost directly into Atlantic Station. This is an old steel mill that was reclaimed. Today, it is a home to 10,000 residents and located within walking distance of five different transit hubs. Atlanta planners had a clear and rational public/private partnership in mind when they did this project," said Hudnut. Note: the St. Louis delegation studied the Atlantic Station project on RCGA's Leadership trip to Atlanta in 2006.
He points to other good rational designs. "Arlington (Virginia) has a shared vision with new urban housing and high tech development all around. Harbor Town in Memphis has established housing for most income households and is near the workforce and sustainable income. Clayton (Missouri) is a good walkable town, much like the LoDo District of Denver." He offered other examples. Those would be developments in Washington, D.C., Albuquerque, Durham, N.C., Brooklyn, New York (The Williamsburg Neighborhood project), Columbus (the Center) Ohio, ClevelandÕs Lakefront connection and the Silver Spring, MD (City Center project) that all make his "A" list.
Hudnut said the U.S. is experiencing a surge in population and will hit 300 million by mid-century. "We already have 125 million households in the U.S. and we add about one million more each year." These people will all need places to live, and they need to be near affordable transportation options.
Hudnut warned of pending threats to sustainable housing and infrastructure. "Global warming is leading to high energy costs. Oil is now $101 a barrel," he pointed out. Further, he said: "If every driver in China had an SUV, the world would run out of oil in
six months."
"That's why we need to build communities close to public transit. We need to cut down on mileage driven in the automobiles," he said.
As he correctly pointed out, urban sprawl has forced our citizenry to travel further and further from the inner city core to find affordable housing. "We need to redevelop our inner cities and reverse those trends,"
he said.
According to the Mayor, the U.S. has its major problems. "We have no national
infrastructure program, our power grids are overloaded, we have no high speed rail
system, our airports are lagging and the National Highway Trust fund face insolvency by 2009."
Paying for the aforementioned upgrades can come from one or two sources: either higher taxes or a market-based approach with a combination of public/private partnerships and user fees. He favors the later.
As mentioned, Hudnut is keenly versed in St. Louis' spirited renewal efforts. As Mayor Francis Slay (his introducer) aptly pointed out, developments, the likes of Washington Avenue, Lumiere Place, the Old Post Office District, Forest Park, North Park and Busch Stadium represent well planned, well
conceived public/private partnerships.
Hudnut likes to talk about Express Scripts new North Park Campus at the University of Missouri-St. Louis as a brazen example of good planning and execution.
"Express Scripts is a good example of a well defined public/private partnership," he said, spreading credit to key players like Dick Shepard (principal, Real Estate Strategies), ÊDenny Coleman (St. Louis County Economic Development Council) and UM-St. Louis official Betty Van Uum.
"This project brought everyone together," he said, rattling off the relationships with
St. Louis County, UM-St. Louis and the North Park Development."
He is particularly enthused about the partnership between Pinnacle and the City of St. Louis that resulted in a Ê$507 million Lumiere Place Casino and Hotel project. "There are only three—Four Seasons Hotels in the Midwest, and the other two are in Chicago. "Leadership created a vision for this project and brought positive change to Laclede's Landing downtown," he said.
That land was blighted and the change will bring new vitality to this district," he figured. "From the deck of the Four Seasons Hotel, you have a spectacular view of the skyline of St. Louis. There are new taxes coming to the City of St. Louis and it creates a win/win opportunity for all the parties," he reasoned.
Mainly, he feels St. Louis' developers in downtown St. Louis are on the right track. "They (developers) see the risk they are taking and they are working hard to get it done, just like our developers did in Indianapolis. "While St. Louis may never become a 24-hour downtown city like Chicago, they can aspire to reach that kind of success," he said. He was particularly pleased to hear that Schnuck's is developing the first downtown grocery store in many years. "Development follows roof tops, and in time, more and more development will occur downtown," he predicted.
"I call St. Louis one of the I-70 cities." I group St. Louis along with Dayton and Columbus in Ohio; Indianapolis and Kansas City." These are all similar type cities that are redeveloping their urban core at about the same pace.
William Hudnut has an impressive resume and a record of lifelong achievement. HeÕs left his stamp of sane development on a variety of communities around the country. ÊSt. LouisÕ land utilization specialists were able to sharpen their thinking and focus their plans, thanks in part to the wisdom of the visiting and charismatic former Mayor from Indy.
ULI St. Louis
—Building Better Communities
Established in 1936, the Urban Land Institute is an independent nonprofit education/research organization that is supported by its members worldwide. The national institute has more than 30,000 members worldwide with over 275 members in
ULI St. Louis.
The membership represents the entire spectrum of land use and real estate development disciplines. They are developers, builders, property owners, investors, architects, public officials, planners, real estate brokers, attorneys, engineers, financiers, academics and students.
ULI facilitates the open exchange of ideas, information and experience among industry professionals and policy makers all dedicated to creating better places. The organization examines land use issues and convenes forums to find solutions to complex land use problems, while coordinating with industry and stakeholder groups.
Urban Pioneers
William Hudnut says there are three classifications of people who are the most likely to redefine themselves as urban pioneers:
1. Singles "The lap top crowd, they can work from anywhere and they will chose a place to live first then go find a job in that area."
2. Mingles "These are people who are cohabitating, artisans, urban pioneers, etc."
3.Jingles "These are the happy empty nesters who no longer need a big house or five acres of land in the country on which to live."
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