As buildable sites get harder to find and more expensive to develop, developers are becoming more creative and taking greater risks.
Three years ago, the Atlanta-based Winter Group gained international attention when it converted a 1920s high school in the citys Little Five Points area into a 133-unit urban loft project that retained features such as classroom chalkboards and student lockers. The company cleaned up the site, remediating the lead and asbestos in the structure, and later reaped the financial rewards. Rents at Bass Lofts are $1.35 per square foot, some ten to 20 cents higher than a new project in the suburbs would have yielded.
Thanks to Urban Land Magazine
FULL STORY: Finding Good Dirt

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Vehicle-related Deaths Drop 29% in Richmond, VA
The seventh year of the city's Vision Zero strategy also cut the number of people killed in alcohol-related crashes by half.

As Trump Phases Out FEMA, Is It Time to Flee the Floodplains?
With less federal funding available for disaster relief efforts, the need to relocate at-risk communities is more urgent than ever.

More Apartments Are Being Built in Less-Dense Areas
Rising housing costs in urban cores and a demand for rental housing is driving more multifamily development to exurbs and small metros.

Plastic Bag Bans Actually Worked
U.S. coastal areas with plastic bag bans or fees saw significant reductions in plastic bag pollution — but plastic waste as a whole is growing.

Improving Indoor Air Quality, One Block at a Time
A movement to switch to electric appliances at the neighborhood scale is taking off in California.
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