June 7, 2004

Conference President Hempstead (NY) Mayor James A. Garner led a delegation of over fifty mayors in a special Mayors/Business Investment Forum to kick-off the Spring Convention of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) May 23-24 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Speaking to an opening plenary audience of over 4,000 developers and retail representatives, the mayors described investment opportunities in their own cities and how the private sector can take advantage of them. "Cities are the new place to do business," Garner told the delegates. "This is the most important place to be to make deals and attract the private sector to your city."

Over two thirds of "leasing deals" are said to originate at this event. In the past, mayors have made good use of their time there. For instance, in New Rochelle (NY), a new entertainment/retail center, which was born at the ICSC Convention in 1996, is currently in the completion stages. Garner has attracted three shopping malls to Hempstead through the ICSC convention.

"Fourteen years ago if I would have told people in my city that I was going to Las Vegas to try to bring business into Trenton, I would have been booted out of office. But now they have seen what we have been able to do in terms of bringing in development. So they say, 'Try to bring Ikea, Target and other big boxes,'" said Trenton (NJ) Mayor Douglas H. Palmer.

The "Town Hall Meeting" style forum was opened by television moderator Meryl Comer, Conference Executive Director Tom Cochran, and host city Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, the fastest growing city in the nation. "Cities are competitive, they are exciting, and they have some of the most dynamic emerging markets in the nation," Cochran said. During the forum, the mayors answered questions ranging from current retail opportunities to homeland security issues. Main discussion centered around policy initiatives to help speed up the permitting process, redevelopment of brownfield sites, the difficulty of attracting developers to urban areas and the backlash against big-box stores.

When it comes to creating development momentum in their cities, most mayors said they were trying to streamline the processes involved in construction and development, tackling both zoning issues and the permitting process. City officials in Boston, for example, are considering the idea of refunding fees to developers whose projects get stuck in the review process. According to Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the city will "tell you the date you are going to get out of the process and if you don't get out of the process by a certain date, they-ll refund all the fees you have paid to the city of Boston." Palmer described New Jersey's project review committee which sits down with developers and tells them exactly what they need to do, helping them know what requirements their projects need to meet in order to get them through the review process efficiently.

Mayors said that they have been pushing to remediate more brownfield sites, particularly those along riverfronts and that they are seeking more funds to help clean the polluted areas. Conference Vice President Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic told the audience that his city purchased a vacant asbestos-contaminated mall and tore it down, creating a site for potential redevelopment. "That's the role of government," says Plusquellic, "to walk into those situations where the private sector just can't afford to take that risk."

Another issue discussed was the importance of big-box stores to the city job market. As manufacturing jobs move overseas and military bases close, mayors increasingly see the importance of attracting big-box stores such as Target or Wal-Mart, mostly for the jobs they create. However, most mayors did agree that such big-box stores belong on the outskirts of town and not in downtown areas. Because of well-publicized backlash concerning big-box retailers, some cities have made concerted efforts to welcome such stores. Virginia Beach, for example, has created a $50 million fund to buy land that will be set aside for new development, particularly for big boxes. Conference Advisory Board Chair Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neill described how her city was virtually rebuilt through public/private initiatives after the defense base closing of the early 1990s. "Big Boxes have a place in every city," Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino told the developers.

Some mayors voiced concerns that developers may be afraid to look for development opportunities in urban cities, but assured developers that their administrations are working to keep crime down and prepare for possible terrorist attacks. Many cities, including New Orleans, are using their own money to make their cities safe, in some cases even establishing their own homeland security departments. Garner assured the audience that, despite recent alerts from federal officials, cities are safe and the mayors have spent significant resources to ensure their protection.

Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick, Chair of the Council on the New American City, which co-hosted the session, talked about Detroit's renaissance with major hotel construction and waterfront redevelopment. "Come to Detroit," said Kilpatrick to a believing audience. "We are ready for your business."

Following the almost two-hour exchange with the audience, the mayors spent the next two days meeting with the nation's commercial real estate developers, national retail chains, and other private sector parties seeking investment opportunities in American cities.

"Next year we will probably have one hundred mayors here," Garner said. "They won't find a stage large enough to put us on."