Even a real estate market as strong as Washington, DC has vacant land and storefronts. Regulatory burdens and business customs make finding temporary tenants difficult, even though temporary uses can enliven dead spaces and spark entrepreneurship.
Eric Fidler of Greater Greater Washington explains that in DC, temporary urbanism doesn't happen because "...we apply the same licensing burdens, lease agreements, and review processes that are unsuitable for projects that may only last 4 weeks."
Fidler reports from a panel on temporary urbanism at the National Building Museum, where Office of Planning Director Harriet Tregoning made a few suggestions for making it easier to allow these uses, such as:
"Lease templates and leasing regulations that treat temporary leases strictly as term-limited and allow landlords to terminate the leases quickly the moment they find a permanent tenant."
FULL STORY: Temporary uses can enliven city neighborhoods
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