Priming sites for the spotlight! That’s the goal of Michigan Municipal League’s Developing Great Places program.
We know that, despite great investment in placemaking, community engagement, and ambitious visions for the future, many Michigan communities haven’t seen the real estate investment they desired in recent years. They need the help of private developers to move their public sector efforts forward.
Enter Developing Great Places. This program tackles individual sites, priming them for the spotlight and connecting them to the developers whose investments will benefit from, and contribute to, great quality of place.
Developing Great Places builds on our experience with placemaking and the statewide rollout of the Redevelopment Ready Communities program to take our members to the next step: getting development in the ground that implements their vision.
Where placemaking and redevelopment readiness come together is at the site level. Combining a solid public vision and the right developer on an individual property will lead to investment that both benefits from great quality of place and contributes to it.
The League’s Civic Innovation Labs team is supporting our members in the work of identifying priority sites, setting goals for development, understanding the critical path to identifying a developer, and connecting to expertise and resources that help them down that path.
Resources for Local Implementation
As part of this work, the League has developed a set of resources for the Redevelopment Ready Communities program that local communities can use to undertake site-specific work independently. These include:
- Placemaking as an Economic Development Tool: A Placemaking Guidebook – the most comprehensive guidebook on placemaking to date, drawing from the best works available
- Users’ Guide to Zoning Reform – an easy to use starting point for updating ordinances to match your community’s vision, especially in places with a main street or downtown district
- Guide to Redevelopment Ready Sites walks through the process of identifying priority sites, establishing a vision, and positioning them for redevelopment
- How To: Issue a Developer RFQ and RFQ template offers a step-by-step process for preparing and issuing a Request for Qualifications to attract attention to your site
Place Development Projects
Click on a link below to jump to a description of the project.
Allegan |
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Alpena |
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Battle Creek |
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Boyne City |
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Escanaba |
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Ferndale |
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Flint |
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Hillsdale |
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Hudsonville |
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Kalamazoo |
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Lansing |
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Manistee |
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Marshall A 7.5-acre property in the middle of the community’s core residential neighborhoods, located only a short five minute walk from the historic downtown area, offers a unique opportunity for new housing options. Read more. |
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Middleville |
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Muskegon |
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Pinckney |
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Roseville |
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Southfield |
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Ypsilanti |
Financial and technical support for this work has come from MSHDA, MEDC, and the MML Foundation.