Case Study #3: The Park East Freeway Corridor Redevelopment Plan

• 64 acre site

• Planning began in middle 90s

• Demolition of elevated freeway began in late 2001; completed in early 2003

Park East Freeway Corridor Redevelopment Plan

• Negative aspects of the existing spur:– “over-designed”

• Elevated freeway• 3 lanes of traffic in both directions

– Auto access to downtown/neighborhoods was limited to only two exits (like the sparse hierarchy)

– Both a real and symbolic barrier separating downtown from the newly revitalizing neighborhoods to the north

– Freeway spur “blighted” 64 acres of land, artificially depressing land values, not the “best and highest” use

– Dominant land use adjacent to the spur was surface parking lots

THE PLAN1. Tear down the spur, and then…2. Rebuild the street grid

– Multiple routes into downtown and neighborhood3. Construct pedestrian scale and monumental boulevard as “gateway”

to downtown where the spur once existed4. Free-up 64 acres of developable real estate5. Re-weave the fabric of downtown into the fabric of the

neighborhoods creating the unified urban texture6. Develop the land, Increase the tax base7. Capitalize on the emerging downtown housing boom8. Create three “urban districts” each with it’s own identity9. Re-weave the River back into the fabric of the city, increase access

to it, and elevate it to a natural and public amenity.

1. Rebuild the street grid

Construct ped-scale “gateway” to downtown

3. Free-up 64 acres of developable real estate

4. “Re-weave” urban fabric of downtown into surrounding

neighborhoods. (development will increase the tax base)

“Re-weaving” implies mixed use

5. Create 3 “districts”; each with its own identity

• McKinley District:• Corporate/hotel• Higher density• Still mixed use

Upper Water: lower-rise and nearly exclusively residential

6: “re-weave” the river back into the city

Controversial Elements of the Plan

• The Pro-Freeway Constituency– Loss of quick access– Loss of parking lots

• The anti-gentrification Constituency– Housing activists– Community groups

• Brewer’s Hill• Harambee

Community Benefits Agreement (CBA)

• Affordable Housing Provision

• “union wage” Provision

• Minority contractors provision

• Pros/Cons