Redevelopment Summit
Amherst needs to remove barriers to real redevelopment and investment of its older commercial districts. The Town’s goal is to identify the procedural, financial, and political obstacles to redevelopment and to develop solutions and incentives to overcome these obstacles. To help find answers, the Amherst Industrial Development Agency, the Amherst Chamber of Commerce, and Town of Amherst Planning Department engaged the development and banking communities, along with representatives of state, county and local governments to create a strategy for stimulating all types and scale of redevelopment in established commercial areas. A “Straight Talk on Redevelopment” was held on August 13, 2009 as the first step to formulate the actions that will accomplish our community’s redevelopment goals.
Ms. Melanie Hare, a partner with the firm of Urban Strategies Inc. of Toronto initiated the discussion (presentation below). Ms. Hare’s firm is an international leader in shaping and enhancing urban places of all scales through strategic actions. Their clients include the cities of Toronto, Ottawa and Charleston, the Hyatt Development Group, Lyme Properties and the Bank of Montreal. Ms. Hare’s keynote was followed by an opportunity for those involved in developing projects to identify the barriers to redevelopment they have encountered and what is needed to overcome them. Future sessions, with the next meeting scheduled for November, will include a broader constituency to work on this important effort.
Click below to see the powerpoint presentation:
350 Essjay Road, Suite 200 