Building blocks for 50 blocks
By Michael Douglas
Beacon Journal editorial page editor
Published: October 22, 2011 - 11:24 PM
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To thrive in the increasingly competitive global economy, cities, or regions, must attract talent, leading to networks and a vibrancy that spurs ideas, innovations and growth. For a Boston, or New York, or a San Francisco Bay area, that is relatively easy.
Akron?
What matters isn’t size so much as distinctiveness, achieving a unique and authentic sense of place. That is the thinking behind such efforts as the biomedical corridor, the Austen BioInnovation Institute, the University of Akron Research Foundation and Mayor Don Plusquellic seeking to lure foreign investment to the city. The idea drives regional clusters around flexible electronic materials and advanced energy.
Of all these endeavors, none is more refreshing in its big ambition than the University Park Alliance, led by Eric Anthony Johnson, supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Here is a most challenging bid to remake 50 blocks at the core of the city, leveraging the presence of leading employers to achieve new energy, in revived housing, retail, entertainment and business. And last week, the alliance scored a triumph, adding a most impressive partner, KUD, the highly respected international real estate development firm.
This isn’t the victory Johnson most covets, visible changes in the look of the area. That will come, or so goes the plan, the alliance with its eye currently on the property of the former Fred Martin Chevrolet dealership on East Market Street. Still, the presence of KUD sends the same encouraging signal of “we’re for real.”
KUD doesn’t land just anywhere. Since the 1990s, this offshoot of Kajima of Japan, has been playing the catalyst for large, private-public, mixed-use projects, looking to make a striking difference in communities. Among other things, that has resulted in aquariums in Tampa and Long Beach, the ballpark in San Francisco, an advanced technologies park in Israel and a makeover for the Silvertown Quays, a neighborhood in the eastern part of London.
Eric Johnson often stresses the importance of building blocks, putting in place the pieces required to sustain something like the University Park Alliance. KUD represents an eye-catching addition to the blocks.
And those blocks, no surprise, are what KUD found attractive about Akron. Many cities have declared their intention to mount such a revival. Few have done so in the painstaking manner of the alliance.
Roughly a year has passed since the alliance remade itself, moving from cheerleader to doer, forming a new board and staff, Johnson setting up as the executive director. The alliance has delivered an economic assessment of the landscape. It has unveiled a bold and clear “master plan,” covering “three streets, four districts and three neighborhoods” and advanced by the also much acclaimed EE&K Architects of New York.
Most of all, the partners have affirmed their commitment. They are the University of Akron, Summa Health System, Akron General Medical Center, Akron Children’s Hospital, the Akron Public Schools, the city and county governments, along with other businesses and groups. The extent and depth of the collaboration sold KUD, along with the chance to join as the project began to take off.
What does KUD bring?
Expertise is part of the answer, the firm knowing what works and what does not, on both the property and the financing sides. So is confidence, stemming largely from its service guarantee, investors comforted by KUD picking up the tab for delays and cost overruns.
How can KUD pull off such a promise? It stresses its selectivity about projects, and its presence at the table as a project moves forward. And there resides the substantial benefit: The alliance has a partner dedicated to seeing the whole picture, pressing forward the plan, providing the crucial element of cohesion.
That hardly translates into telling the others what to do. It does mean ensuring the necessary profile for the goals of the alliance, devoting resources to fulfill the strategy, maintaining the alignment, especially in the many parts of the 50 blocks that are not owned by the partners.
This role is key because success depends almost entirely on continuing coordination and collaboration. The area won’t be remade in a couple of years, in five or a decade. (Beware of excessive expectations.) KUD pledges to be here for the duration. Akron players must prove true to their talk (and acts) of commitment.
They do so convinced about the reward, the city with an opportunity to take long strides toward distinction and competitiveness.
Eric Johnson likes sport analogies. He talks about the way to launch an effective team. The players must know the plays. They must practice to achieve command. Then they must execute in the game. He argues that the building blocks of the alliance reflect just such diligence, doing the right things to succeed.
And now in KUD, he has what amounts to a playmaker, a component to shape and facilitate the attack.
Douglas is the Beacon Journal editorial page editor. He can be reached at 330-996-3514, or emailed at mdouglas@thebeaconjournal.com.
