(F03) Green Building as a Driver for Financing and Marketability of Community Development

Three projects demonstrate the power and potential of green commercial properties for community building. Learn how sustainable measures have opened doors to capital sources, increased marketability, and created efficiencies that are anchoring the transformation of: 1.) a failing golf course in central Florida into a full-scale community development, 2.) a 14-year vacant warehouse on Chicago's west side into an entrepreneurial hub, and 3.) a brownfield lot in Traverse City into a community hub with affordable housing.This structured panel discussion will help practitioners maximize the effectiveness of community development efforts by raising awareness of how green and resilient infrastructure elements can increase access to funding while improving the marketability and performance of commercial buildings.

About the projects: Chicago's Amped Kitchens is an adaptive reuse project on the city's Westside. The previously 14-year vacant former Zenith (television) industrial property now houses 64 commercial kitchens, supported by energy-efficient HVAC and building controls that are considered an amenity for food processors. Central Florida's Sebring community under development by Signature H is a sustainable, net-zero and life-cycle community being born from the repositioning of a distressed golf course. The project is being designed to meet LEED v4 standards at the building-level and will seek LEED v4 ND. Commongrounds, a real estate cooperative in Traverse City Michigan, will provide moderate-income housing, a daycare facility and community spaces while featuring a green roof, solar, and EE throughout. Each project attracted capital from community stakeholders and financing programs based on the presence of significant EE measures.