Downtown Revitalization for the City of Olympia
For the City of Olympia, ECONorthwest worked with staff on a two-part project that continues to evolve today. The first part of the process evaluated the market-based opportunities for redevelopment of five sites spread throughout the City. ECONorthwest's product was a five-year work plan with specific actions appropriate to each site that the City is currently implementing. For downtown, the action plan recommended the use of community renewal, a statutorily-authorized community revitalization tool. As the second part of the process, ECONorthwest researched and developed alternatives for the community renewal area (CRA) boundary, governance structure, stakeholder engagement process, and catalyst projects. The new CRA, adopted in July of 2016, is already advancing two major public-private redevelopment projects. ECONorthwest assisted with drafting the development solicitations, reviewing developer responses, and selecting a preferred partner. As the projects evolve, ECONorthwest will assist the City with negotiating developer agreements for the two projects.
Client: City of Olympia
