A group of nationally renowned land use and urban planning experts representing the Urban Land Institute (ULI) will be making recommendations to the City of Indianapolis and the Department of Metropolitan Development on how to best redevelop the Irvington Plaza area.

The ULI representatives, convened through ULI’s renowned Advisory Services Program, are visiting Indianapolis Feb. 10-15. The Advisory Services panelists will consider the types of redevelopment that the market would support for the area, how multimodal connectivity could be improved in the area, potential problems and actionable steps with regard to the redevelopment, and potential funding options for any redevelopment. This visit by an Advisory Service Panel (ASP) follows another to Indianapolis just last month by a separate team of ULI representatives who made recommendations on the revitalization of the Mount Comfort Corridor.

ASPs–as well as local Technical Assistance Panels (TAPs)–allow ULI to provide direct assistance to communities by leveraging our members’ expertise to address challenging land use and real estate issues.

The panel will be chaired by Alan Razak, Principal, AthenianRazak, LLC, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. “We’re looking forward to bringing the expertise of ULI members to Irvington,” said Razak. “Everyone gets something valuable from the panel experience–the panelists get the opportunity to give back to the greater community by donating their unique expertise to help solve a challenging real estate issue, and the host community gets unbiased expert advice that couldn’t be obtained in any other way. It will be stimulating to work with local stakeholders engaged in the future of the neighborhood, who can use the significant experience of the ULI team of panelists to get strategic recommendations on potential redevelopment and multimodal infrastructure at the new Blue Line station.”

Razak will be joined by: Jay Amin, Owner/President, Via Consulting Group and Principal, I-S-LAND Companies, LLC, Crofton, Maryland; Daniel Anderton, Senior Associate/Community Design Planner, Dewberry, Gaithersburg, Maryland; Erwin Andres, Principal, Gorove/Slade, Washington, D.C.; Rick Goldman, President, Pacific Construction Services, Chicago, Illinois; Anita Kramer, Senior Vice President, ULI Center for Capital Markets and Real Estate, Washington, D.C.; and Theresa Ward, Deputy County Executive/Commissioner, Economic Development & Planning, Suffolk County, New York.

During the week, the panel will tour the site and surrounding neighborhoods, and interview a variety of stakeholders in the community before developing a set of recommendations that will be presented at the conclusion of the panel’s visit.

Now in its 71st year, the ULI advisory services program assembles experts in the fields of real estate and land use planning to participate on panels worldwide, offering recommendations for complex planning and development projects, programs and policies. Panels have developed more than 700 studies for a broad range of land uses, ranging from waterfront properties to inner-city retail.

According to Thomas Eitler, senior vice president of ULI’s advisory services program, the strength of the program lies in ULI’s unique ability to draw on the substantial knowledge of its 42,000-plus members, including land developers, engineers, public officials, academics, lenders, architects, planners and urban designers. “The independent views of the panelists bring a fresh perspective to the land use challenge,” Eitler said. “The advisory services program is all about offering creative, innovative approaches to community building.”

Past sponsors of ULI advisory service panels include federal, state and local government agencies; regional councils of government; chambers of commerce; redevelopment authorities; private developers and property owners; community development corporations; lenders; historic preservation groups; non-profit community groups; environmental organizations and economic development agencies.