Smart Growth Program Staff Participates in the 2009 National Vacant Properties Campaign Conference

2009-06-15

The National Vacant Properties Campaign held their 2nd Annual Conference on June 1-3 in Louisville, Kentucky.  The conference convened over 500 stakeholders from federal, state, and local government; the non-profit community; and private developers to identify solutions to the challenge of redeveloping vacant properties and helping communities addresses foreclosure.  Several EPA programs were involved in the conference including the Smart Growth Program and the Brownfields Program.

One of the conference sessions featured the topic “Deal Makers and Risk Takers:  Developers Who are Creating Value and Sustainability.”  The moderator for the session was Marc Morial, President and CEO of the National Urban League.  The Urban League is the nation’s oldest and largest community-based movement devoted to empowering African Americans to enter the economic mainstream.  The panelists for the session included Sanford Garner of the urban design firm A2SO4; Yusef Freeman of McCormick, Baron, and Salazar; as well as Representative Harold Mitchell of the South Carolina Legislature.  The session focused on the actions that top developers are taking to facilitate redevelopment of under-utilized properties, the challenges they face, and the opportunities for greater reuse of properties to prompt community revitalization.