Urban Land Institute Has Top Professionals PuttingTheir Heads Together

By Amos Maki
– The Commercial Appeal –

A wide range of land issues face Mid-South communities as officials struggle with sprawl, Downtown revitalization and better development codes.

Now the region has a new group that will study and debate these issues and, possibly, have an impact on land planning across the region.

That’s because some of the most respected architects, developers and land planners in the area are coming together to form a Mid-South District Council of the Urban Land Institute.

“I hope that is going to make a difference,” said Russell Bloodworth Jr., executive vice president of Boyle Investment Co. and vice chair in charge of programs for the organization. “It really does have some people that are well-versed in the built environment, pulling together and thinking hard about how we can contribute to making Memphis a better place.”

The ULI is a non-profit research and education organization that promotes the responsible use of land. Founded in 1936, the organization has more than 28,000 members in 80 countries.

Organizers of the local district council say they will draw on that global wisdom to address some local problems.

We want to deal with regional issues in a national context, said John Dudas, vice president and director of strategic planning at Belz Enterprises and chair of ULI’s executive committee. “We may be struggling with something here that people in Portland dealt with 10 years ago.”

“The more you meet people from other communities, you realize we are not unique. We do have some unique characteristics and culture, but a lot of our financial issues, transportation issues and overall urban development concerns have been experienced in other cities.”

And it really is a regional effort.

Bob Barber, Hernando director of planning, is slated to be the group’s state coordinator, while University of Arkansas-Little Rock’s George Wittenberg will serve as Arkansas coordinator.

The concept of regionalism is important in communities where state or municipal boundaries often dissolve, said Frank Ricks, a founding partner of Looney Ricks Kiss Architects.

“Those lines are just on paper, but communities are knitted together,” said Ricks, assistant chair of the district council. “There is interdependency there, and what is good for one city is good for the other.”

“Those lines are just on paper, but communities are knitted together,” said Ricks, assistant chair of the district council. “There is interdependency there, and what is good for one city is good for the other.”

The ULI is not a grass-roots political organization or a lobbying group. However, members hope their expertise can offer a “strong helping hand” to area planners.

“We want to get people in the private sector to have a dialogue with people in the public sector,” said Larry Wright Jr., principal of Wright Strawn LLC and chair of the district council’s young leaders group. “We’re all on the same team. We want to create a better city and a better place to live.”