The primary focus of Urban Advisors is the use of market experience and financial expertise to assist in the design process to create the preconditions and program for economically viable communities.  We specialize in enabling design and development to create or revive urban neighborhoods that offer quality of life and community.

approach
Design and market analysis are not separate from one another; planning for great places does create different market conditions than would be expected from trending existing conditions. By understanding design as a market factor, we are able to knit together the seemingly disparate areas of economic development and town planning.

methodology
Our analysis is based on data provided by ESRI BIS, the Census, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Bureau of Economic Analysis and state and local resources. Unlike firms that repackage this standard data, we provide careful analysis to discover trends and clues to the underlying causes, and provide solutions to local problems. Our analysis does not just quantify local conditions; we take the next step to provide recommendations that are both specific and useful for your community.

Besides the background data we collect, we insist on conducting stakeholder interviews for every project. This helps us understand and interpret the data, and gives us perspective on what the challenges are, what the existing organizational resources might be, and where to focus our efforts to provide useful analysis and recommendations.

Conventional economic analysis presupposes market outcomes before any design or public interaction has taken place and arrives at conclusions at the beginning of the process. Our methodology accounts for the formative effects of design and planning by participating in the process. We work through the public involvement process as part of the design team to balance mixed-uses in the site program, enabling the capture of development opportunities generated by the synergy of compatible development types. This results in a coordinated land use program for retail and employment space that is integrated with the residential component and is welcomed by both the public and the real estate development community. We offer the design team our experience in creating the preconditions necessary for the new businesses and employment that will provide a vibrant and sustainable local economy.

results
Our involvement throughout the planning process allows us to assist designers and planners in tailoring appropriate designs and form-based codes that respond to the underlying market requirements for different types of land use. Most importantly, we go beyond traditional background market analysis to leave our clients with implementation and development strategies that are coordinated with the community vision, financially feasible, and achievable by the existing local organizational structures.