New Urban Investment Funds Catching A Wave

"Since the late 1990s, a number of people have tried to form investment pools that would provide money for new urbanist developments. It has not been easy going."

"The Traditional Neighborhood Development Fund, started in 1997 by new urbanist developers Robert Chapman, Rob Dickson, and Lloyd Zuckerberg, obtained backing from the multi-billion-dollar Hillman Company and from a major shareholder in Goldman Sachs, but was never able to place any significant capital."

"The Fund for New Urbanism, started in 2002 with Andres Duany, Sam Young, and businessman Wayne Huizenga as partners, hoped to finance several projects but is now limiting itself to just one — a 930-acre development near Edenton, North Carolina (see story on page 7). Another pool, the Green Living Fund, which Kacey Fitzpatrick in the San Francisco Bay Area expected to have in operation by late 2006, has delayed its startup by at least several months."

"Yet while some investment pools are being postponed or pared down, others are springing into existence. In January, the Denver-based Revival Fund Management of Dennis Fleming and Charlie Randall started its Urban Green Fund, which will invest in walkable, mixed-use developments within a half-mile of mass transit. Also importantly, philanthropies are coming forward. The New York-based FB Heron Foundation, for example, is investing in New Urbanism through funds such as the Bay Area Smart Growth Fund and the California Smart Growth Fund."