Investing in Land

It may be 75 miles from Greensboro, North Carolina to Cary (a suburb to the Tar Heel State’s capital of Raleigh) but the two towns are in synch on the need to create clearer and accessible land development guidelines.  Whatever the current state of the economy, City leaders and citizens are looking to the future.

In Greensboro, according to the News-Record, an update of the city’s land development rules is headed to the City Council for approval.  “The goal of the rewrite is to make the ordinance easier to understand and use for everyone, from developers to residents affected by re zonings.”

In Cary, the process is not as far along, but is headed in the same direction.  According to the Cary Citizen newspaper a set of town hall meetings are being held that “will be used to further revise the proposed draft plan before the county or the town hold official public hearings in Spring 2010…”

In keeping with the move to regionalize development plans, the Cary eff0rt is being done in conjunction with Chatham County.

It is about 800 miles from Round Rock, Texas (hard by Austin) and Avon, Colorado (as close to Vail) but the air the leaders of each city are breathing must be the same.  In recent days, each has stepped up its efforts to participate more fully — and thoughtfully — in planning for the future of development.  Long a product of the expertise of companies like Walton International, development is becoming a team sport.

In Avon, there is a new community development director and assistant town manager.  Here is how the new hire was described:

“We believe (her) experience will help Avon move forward with its long-term goals such as developing the east and west town centers, affordable housing and improving our overall land use and planning practices,” said (the) Town Manager.

In Round Rock, it is not just a focus on the people, but the plan to make development happen.  As they put it:

“The City of Round Rock in early 2009 began work on improving its land development processes. This effort is part of the City’s overall philosophy of continuous improvement, and builds on previous efforts to streamline the land development process.”

The city of Greensboro, North Carolina is in the midst or re-thinking its development future.  The program, called “Connections 2025,” seeks, according to local media reports, to provide “more flexibility on standards and encourages more urban infill and mixed-use developments…”

The program’s mission is stated clearly:

“Our Vision of Greensboro and its environs in the Year 2025 is one in which the City is recognized throughout the nation as an exceptional place in which to live, work, play and nurture future generations. It is this exceptional livability which defines our identity, contributes to our civic pride, and offers opportunities for all to participate fully in community life. We have achieved our vision by retaining and building on our heritage, embracing positive growth and change, and by balancing our priorities.”

The key point is made by “embracing positive growth.”

“Smart” is not at odds with “growth” in Greensboro.  There is a chance that in other cities, the need to The need to grow smart is not at odds

For all the noise created by the Federal Government’s efforts to jump start the economy (Cash for Clunkers, anyone?), it appears that, like politics, all “green shoots” are local.

One need look no further than the ocean side of Florida.  Here is bit of a story in The News-Journal, “The Independent Voice of Volusia and Flagler Counties” in Florida:  “Representatives of a company that owns 59,000 acres of land in southern Volusia and northern Brevard counties have worked behind the scenes for more than a year to refine a long-term development plan for the property.”

The company is the Miami Corporation, a near 100-year old land investment company that started out selling farm implements.  You would have to guess they know their land.  Add it to the list of companies like Walton International, now beginning to move to fill the front of the development pipeline.

As for the Florida deal, it reflects the growing support from developers for”…sustainable growth standards, such as limiting development on the bulk of the land until at least 2025, requiring water and energy conservation, and tying job creation to housing construction.”

Let’s keep an eye on that.

In recent weeks, news from both the East Coast and West Coast have strengthened the relationship between sustainable development and the future.

In Bordentown, New Jersey, the just-released land use plan flows from its commitment “To promote the orderly growth of lands within the City of Bordentown, taking into consideration the character of each district and its peculiar suitability for particular land uses, to generally encourage the most appropriate use of land through the police power, and to promote sustainable and orderly growth.”

In reporting on the plan, updated every five-to-six years, the Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger noted that “Perhaps the biggest changes to the plan were the removal of the terms ‘transit village’ and ‘redevelopment area.’ The result will be less emphasis on new, denser development within the historic, riverfront city that is home to about 4,000.”  This will clearly put more emphasis on outward development to accommodate growth without affecting the character of the town.

The character of the city is also a big part of an announcement made by the A.G. Spanos development company about its plans in Stockton, California, about 50 miles east of San Francisco.

The Company said it intends to create “The Preserve, a new community that will be a model for environmentally and economically sustainable development. The Preserve will generate a $2 billion investment, attract new businesses to Stockton, create new jobs, add a new community hospital, reduce reliance on automobiles, and is projected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50% compared to typical developments.”

In each case, one big, one small; one on the East Coast, one on the West; and one driven by government, the other by the private sector; the mission is the same — creating a sustainable land-use future.

With the critically acclaimed television show about advertising, “Mad Men,” soon to start its new season, the industry’s perennial question, “Will it play in Peoria?” may be on the minds of many.

It ought to be, and not just for marketers who were taught that the Illinois city of 375,000 people is a perfect test market for new products.  It ought to be a question on the minds of people thinking about investing in land.

Peoria County officials have just released their Comprehensive Land Use plan with projections stretching out to 2050.  According to Planning and Zoning Director Matt Wahl in the Peoria Star-Journal, “This is unique. Quite honestly, there isn’t another county comprehensive plan within the Midwest that has this type of information in it.”

The plan takes a matrix approach to making educated projections.  Population growth, commercial demand with a focus on retail and public services (streets, water, schools) all play a role.

Clearly, it plays in Peoria.

A lot of news clippings flash across my computer screen, but one earlier this month from the East Valley (AZ) Tribune caught my eye.

The headline read: “Pinal County Plan Prepares for 6M People.” Pinal County, to the south of the Phoenix metropolitan area, now has about 350,000 people.  That kind of growth requires a plan, a big plan and land, lots of it, which Arizona has.

It is not the first report on the importance of raw land investing in Arizona, but this article notes that the plan “looks farther into the future than 10 years, which is normal for comprehensive plans, and instead designates what land uses Pinal County should have when it’s built-out.”

It also was the product of input from multiple stakeholders — those who would use the land and those who would prepare and build on it.  As reported, “(t)he plan is the culmination of public meetings, multiple committees and consultations with private firms and public institutions…”

That’s foresight!

Between Buffalo and Detroit is a wide swath of Southern Ontario Canada where land development issues and opportunities are on the rise.

As reported in the region’s Brantford Expositor, a “…Comprehensive Review of Employment Lands, presented to the planning advisory committee, argues in a detailed, zone-by-zone analysis that major swaths of mainly farmland currently designated industrial
or commercial in the county’s official plan are in places that aren’t practical for development. They are not on major roads, it points out,. Or, it wouldn’t be efficient to install expensive infrastructure services to develop them.”

What is striking is the symmetry between good local decisions and good strategic decisions.  Investing in raw land is all about vision.