3 Tips Every Developer Needs To Know Before Announcing A Project

I have worked with developers and commercial real estate firms on high profile projects. In working with them, and their team of consultants, I saw how important it is to engage key stakeholders early in the process of any mix-use development and project that has the potential to impact a community. I have also experienced this as the Communications Director for the City of Detroit and Press Secretary for the Mayor of Detroit. 

From the design stage to the public process in securing permits, in addition to raising capital and targeting potential retailers and other tenants, constant engagement is vital to the success of any project. In addition, developing strategic relationships helps to minimize risk and help anticipate barriers to seeing projects to their completion.  

Here are three simple tips every developer needs to know before announcing any high profile project:

1. Get to know the key stakeholders who will support and oppose your project. This includes government leaders and community groups. Develop relationships with them long before you announce your project, to build trust, understand their concerns and find support later on – should you need it. 
    
2. Meet with their leadership in advance to understand their concerns and be ready to respond to them if necessary. This will also help bolster your position during the public process in securing approvals for permits and variances. 
    
3. Identify a reporter that would be interested in your project to share information and background with so that when you are ready to announce, it will be covered extensively. 

More specifically, here a three action items you should implement now and before you publicly announce your project:

1. Create a website to gauge and solicit stakeholder input and encourage conversations from project stakeholders. This could help in generating ideas, set priorities and avoid risk to external issues later. It will also help bolster your position before city council in seeking necessary approvals.
    
2. Directly engaging community groups to develop strategic relationships and support for projects early on in the process. This includes engaging members of city council directly on your vision and the merits of your plans well before you announce anything.
    
3. Work with the media in educating others about the project.  This includes developing relationships with specific trade publications covering the development and construction industry to share information about the projects you are working on or recently completed.  By building up a portfolio, people will begin to trust you and the work you do in the communities you serve. 

Action Through Collaboration

A region just north of Detroit saw a problem and created a collaborative effort to create, adopt and implement a five-year regional economic roadmap.  During the process of creating the strategic plan, more than 400 stakeholders were asked to identify their top two priorities for the local economic development corporation to tackle.  Earlier this month, the Windsor-Essex (Ontario, Canada) Economic Development Corporation announced their five-year plan at a Windsor-Essex Chamber luncheon. The communities, including government, labor, business and acadamia, collaborated and everyone made a commitment to change.

Since the Windsor Essex collaboration began in 2010, 1,862 new jobs were created, $73 million in investments were made, 6,069 jobs were saved and 28,092 small business inquiries were made.  To find those numbers in Southeastern Michigan, one would have to contact Automation Alley, the DEGC, the Detroit Regional Chamber, Ann Arbor Spark, TechTown, Velocity, and others.  Unlike our Canadian neighbors, our region continues to be fragmented and polarizing.

As a result of their efforts, Windsor has gained international attention for its efforts, seeing such headlines as:

• “Top 7 intelligent community of the year”(Intelligent Community Forum)
• Windsor-Essex to lead nation’s economy Growth (Conference Board of Canada)
• Top 5 Best Places to Invest (site Selection)
• Canada’s auto capital named city of the future (CBC news)
• Mini Motown Finds there is life after autos (Calgary Bean, 3.20.11)

Last week, the Business Leaders for Michigan announced their turnaround plan for the State of Michigan. A great plan that any lawmaker could pick up and start using. While it is a great plan, we need the input of all the interested parties, labor, university and others, if we are to truly implement an agenda that we can all agree on and start moving forward with.

In addition, Detroit's business leaders, if not those throughout the state of Michigan, need to reach out to Windsor’s business leaders. We need to collaborate across borders and work collectively for the good of our region, as a region.

Funding for Community Development Corporations Exists, Even In Today's Economy

In this week's Crain's Detroit Business, reporter Nancy Kaffer writes about Detroit-based community development corporations rethinking their business model as funding becomes scarce to support their programs. (See Credit crunch forces CDCs to scale back, rethink). While it is true, in today’s economy, it is becoming more-and-more competitive to raise money. However, funding is available through various programs such as: Acquisition of real property; relocation and demolition; construction of public facilities and improvements (such as water and sewer facilities, streets, school conversions); business assistance; energy conservation and renewable energy projects; structural rehabilitation's; planning; transit oriented developments; homeless assistance grants; housing counseling; tenant based rental assistance; Self Help Home ownership Opportunity; Empowerment Zones/Enterprise Communities Program; Neighborhood Reinvestment programs; Mortgage Foreclosure Mitigation Assistance; and, others through the Departments of: Commerce; Education; HUD; the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation; Community Development Block Grants; The University Community Fund; Choice Neighborhoods Initiatives; Sustainable Communities Initiatives; Section 108 Loan Programs; Economic Development Initiative Grants; Compassion Capital Fund Grants; Office of Community Services funds; Energy; Labor; Health & Human Services; National Endowment for the Arts; and, other agencies and departments, depending on what you want funded.

In fact, the following community development organizations have turned to Washington to seek federal funds and have retained a lobbyist in Washington:

Reid Community Development Corporation Calhoun County Community Development (Michigan) Southside Community Development South Carolina Association of Community Development Jefferson Square Community Development Norwich Community Development New Man Community Development (Maryland) Paramount Community Development Town of Riverhead Community Development

HUD also is refocused on rebuilding and reinvesting in urban communities. President Obama has also made urban investment a priority, even creating an office in The White House, to focus on helping urban communities. Funding and support may also be available through The White House Auto Taskforce on Distressed Communities.

I cannot think of a better city than Detroit and its surrounding communities, for The White House and Congress to focus on. Detroit has been one of the hardest hit cities by the economic tsunami that rocked our world. And Detroit CDCs are the perfect organization, with an established track record of success and a dedicated group of leaders to help direct money towards the city of Detroit.

Detroit is a city of limited resources. The City government itself is focused on a number of priorities that may not necessarily be "neighborhood" priorities. Therefore, it is important that Detroit-area CDC's work collaboratively to secure additional funds for Detroit neighborhoods. Not necessarily working against the city for federal funding, but working alongside the city to secure funds it would normally not secure. CDCs can work alone in trying to work with Michigan's Congressional Delegation to secure funding or they can retain a lobbyist or advocate familiar with the process and personalities to identify the funding, apply for any necessary grants and work the requests through the legislative process.

Funding is available at a federal level. The CDCs need to identify the projects that need to be funded and then ask for Congressional support.