Originally published in Texas Real Estate Business.
The essence of a thriving city lies in its diversity. Dynamic urban landscapes achieve this by offering a robust mix of uses that cater to a wide range of people, keeping their streets and buildings lively and vibrant from through the day and into the night.
City administrators, architects and master planners have long sought the alchemical mixture for this success. However, zoning codes for various municipalities can often read like complex recipes: A cup of residential here, a few ounces of retail there, a pinch of municipal infrastructure all around, a dash of hidden parking and a sprinkling of community open space to really tie the flavors together!
Successful placemaking is not simply the sum composition of all its parts; it requires thoughtful integration and balance. With today’s housing shortages, multifamily developments make sense, but integrating retail is challenging. This is despite the fact that many comprehensive plans and zoning codes mandating specific retail quotas, which may not be easily supported by the economics.
Creating vibrant, engaging spaces requires more than just ticking boxes in the zoning code. Stakeholders want to avoid ending up with a dish that is technically correct but lacks flavor. The goal is to blend residential, retail and communal elements in a way that is more artful than formulaic, creating a place where people genuinely want to be.
Carrollton’s Success Story
In Carrollton, located just north of downtown Dallas, municipal leaders have managed to do just that. The LYV Broadway project, a mixed-use development on the southern end of the city’s historic downtown area that was developed by High Street Residential, provides the desired housing options as well as a retail space to create a vibrant live-work-play community. In addition, the development is located near a relatively new commuter rail station, which the city envisioned as a sort of gateway to Carrollton. This project demonstrates the success of a thoughtful, nuanced approach to urban development, creating a space that is not just livable but lively and desirable.
Achieving Retail, Residential Harmony
Designing mixed-use spaces often means navigating the tricky waters between residential and commercial needs. In projects primarily funded by private-sector developers, the focus tends to lean toward residential needs, keeping options open to convert unused retail spaces into additional living units. However, under the leadership of Josh Giles, former development program manager for the City of Carrollton, the municipality took a different approach.
The city actively participated as a stakeholder and took on the role of retail developer. This involvement facilitated a more nuanced design process, ensuring retail spaces were not mere afterthoughts but essential, functional elements of the overall development. This strategic approach allowed for the spaces to be properly programmed to attract specific types of retailers, or to find retailers of the right scale to occupy vacant spaces, fostering an environment conducive to growth.
Additionally, Carrollton leaders recognized the potential of retail spaces to serve as incubators for burgeoning businesses. This insight led to the creation of a dynamic mix of retail offerings, significantly enhancing the area’s overall vitality. In fact, four of the businesses are women- and/or minority-owned ventures and represent the first physical locations of each concept.
Yet. the city did not stop there; municipal officials invested in understanding the key drivers of retail. This commitment to education in retail recruitment smoothed the leasing process for developers and management companies. The collaborative spirit cultivated among all involved parties — ranging from city officials and developers to residents — was pivotal in driving the project toward success.
The Secret Sauce
Recognizing that this formula has failed in the past, the city took the lead to ensure this active edge of their new urban development would not fall victim to the same fate. Giles’ approach included:
- Securing the Right Mix. The first step in the city’s recipe for success was gaining control of the retail space, which it did by securing a three-year lease agreement with the developer and retaining subleasing rights. This arrangement ensured the city a win-win situation — financial security for the developer and the freedom for the city to handpick the right mix of retailers.
- Choosing the Perfect Tenant Activators. Having secured the lease agreement, the city faced its next challenge: selecting the right retail operators. Carrollton leaders utilized online platforms like LoopNet and CoStar that are commonly used by property owners to find retail tenants. The city dedicated itself to this exhaustive process, carefully evaluating a wide range of prospective retailers. Through this diligent effort, Carrollton officials curated a diverse and vibrant mix of retail tenants that aligned with their vision.
- Quality Assurance in Retail Selection. The third hurdle was the vetting process for these potential tenants. Carrollton approached this challenge with innovation, collaborating with the developer and leveraging the resources of the leasing company managing the multifamily units. This partnership enabled the city to effectively screen the prospective tenants, ensuring they were selecting reliable and suitable businesses for their urban development. This approach in turn allowed tenants to bring in co-signers in some cases when needed, and also presented them with a lower barrier of entry (residential income requirements) and a 12-month initial term, as opposed to a multi-year commercial lease.
“ We are proud to have welcomed five small businesses into our downtown, adding first-of-their-kind uses like a cooking school and gourmet dog treat bakery, to our dynamic retail offerings,” says Giles. “Our creative marketing efforts paid off in spades, and LYV Broadway has been an ideal partner by promoting our tenant’s services to their residents. Several of these businesses have expressed interest in expanding to larger locations, and they all have one thing in common: They’re looking right here in downtown Carrollton first.”
The LYV Broadway project in Carrollton is a masterful urban recipe, blending residential and commercial elements into a vibrant community. Like a chef creating a perfect dish, this development has crafted a space buzzing with dynamic urban life, symbolizing a transformative approach in city planning where every stakeholder’s involvement leads to extraordinary results.
