Canter Group Planning & Design Blog

In 2003 Talcor Commercial Real Estate Services, Inc. decided to attempt a pedestrian friendly destination spot on the corner of East 5th Avenue and Thomasville Road in Tallahassee, Florida approximately one mile from the downtown complex. The plan was to renovate and convert an existing 21,000 square-foot furniture store, complete with loading bays, to a retail center that would include high-end, sit-down restaurants, smaller casual and fast food shops and small retail stores. The Parking Problem The challenge lay with the availability of parking, and convincing potential tenants that a retail center that would rely mainly on pedestrian traffic during daytime hours could not only survive, but be successful. Only eleven spaces were available in the existing parking lot for the furniture store. While Talcor owned adjacent office complexes with parking for 205 vehicles, only 25 to 30 spaces were available in that lot during the day until 5:00 PM. In order to compensate for lack of pa...

Marpan Recycling began in March 2008 converting construction and demolition debris into reusable materials. The operation is located on the site of an abandoned asphalt plant near the southern limits of the City of Tallahassee, Florida. Below is a photo (1st Photo) of an asphalt plant in Tallahassee similar to the one that previously occupied the Marpan site. This was replaced by a state-of-the-art recycling facility (Next 2 Photos) that grinds Class III (construction and demolition debris) and yard waste into re-usable materials. According to Florida Trend.com: "The $5.5-million plant can handle up to 500 tons of debris a day..." The goal, according to owner Kim Williams, is to return 75% of the debris to the market. Their website reports the facilities recycling rate for the month of September at 73%. Not only has Marpan managed to return a high percentage of materials to the market, they accomplished it in an ecologically responsible way, situating the operation so ...

Housing: Taking A Bubble Bath To Reality Tuesday, 30 September 2008, 10:39 am Hugh Pavletich writes: Unfortunately – too many within the economics, urban planning and property appraisal / valuation professions – who have been "schooled" in markets, but not actually "educated" in them with practical experience – have failed professionally - by not informing policymakers and the wider public of the real costs and consequences of housing bubbles. Indeed – many have been more than willing to act as "cheerleaders" for these bubbles. Experienced property development practitioners ("market developers") know to exit bubble urban markets as soon as possible – because in reality with land and construction inflation, they are in real terms paying tax on illusory profits and left holding "bubble value" land and property, which will crash at some stage. So if their development businesses do not fail because of cash flow problems in attempting to deb...

The Tallahassee/Leon County Planning Department is creating a multi-modal district within the urban core of Tallahassee. While methods of regulating parking within the new district are not currently part of the Comprehensive Plan Amendment, measures for implementing parking standards that would enhance the TOD are being considered. Currently the City's Land Development Code provides minimum standards for the number of parking spaces associated with various land uses, with a 25% variance either way for redevelopment sites. Lately, discussion in the Planning Department, Growth Management Department and Planning community has been whether or not to set a maximum standard versus the common minimum standard for the number of parking spaces allowed / required. Even if such parking standards are implemented by the Land Development Code, the plan may take some time before the cost-benefit to owners and the general public can be analyzed, since the new rule would apply only to new or rede...

Shaker Heights, Ohio has embarked on a 5-10 year plan to change the 60-acre commercial district located at the intersection of Warrensville and Van Aken into a district with a mixture of apartments, retail and offices, recreation amenities and a transit hub that includes light rail. A summary of the plan and rationale may be found here-- http://www.shakeronline.com/dept/planning/ShakerMakeover.asp#thinkbig A copy of the final report may be found here-- http://www.shakeronline.com/Media/PDFs/Uploader/71820081132432-FinalReport.pdf