Book Description Review Quotes Contents Resources
Book Description

America’s landscape is undergoing a profound transformation as demand grows for a different kind of American Dream--smaller homes on smaller lots, multifamily options, and walkable neighborhoods. This trend presents a tremendous opportunity to reinvent our urban and suburban areas. But in a time of fiscal austerity, how do we finance redevelopment needs? In Foundations of Real Estate Development Finance: A Guide for Public-Private Partnerships, urban scholar Arthur C. Nelson argues that efficient redevelopment depends on the ability to leverage resources through partnerships. Public-private partnerships are increasingly important in reducing the complexity and lowering the risk of redevelopment projects. Although planners are an integral part of creating these partnerships, their training does generally not include real-estate financing, which presents challenges and imbalances in public-private partnership.

This is the first primer on financing urban redevelopment written for practicing planners and public administrators. In easy-to-understand language, it will inform readers of the natural cycle of urban development, explain how to overcome barriers to efficient redevelopment, what it takes for the private sector to justify its redevelopment investments, and the role of public and nonprofit sectors to leverage private sector redevelopment where the market does not generate sufficient rates of return.
 
This is a must read for practicing planners and planning students, economic development officials, public administrators, and others who need to understand how to leverage public and non-profit resources to leverage private funds for redevelopment.

Review Quotes

"Planners and public officials will benefit greatly from Chris Nelson’s thorough yet concise overview of development finance. This book provides the know-how the public sector needs to work successfully with developers."
Joseph R. Molinaro, AICP, National Association of REALTORS

"Everyone interested in the financial ‘how to’ of retrofitting suburbia in the United States should read this cogent book! Nelson brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and clarity to the task."
June Williamson, Associate Professor of Architecture at The City College of New York, author of "Designing Suburban Futures"

"Professor Nelson expounds on and thoroughly explains the benefit of public-private partnerships in seizing the opportunities for commercial corridor and suburban center redevelopment – which is where he rightly sees the future of America’s real estate investment. This text will be shown to be the invaluable, go-to, how-to book for practitioners, students, and the private sector on redevelopment of our built environment to meet the needs of future generations."
From the foreword by Christopher B. Leinberger, Center for Real Estate and Urban Analysis, George Washington Univ. School of Business, author, "The Option of Urbanism"

"The book does a fantastic job of making the intricacies of the development financing world easy to understand."
Spacing

"Arthur c. Nelson has written a policy guide and practical workbook."
Planning

Contents

Foreword \ Christopher B. Leinberger
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Future of America Is Redevelopment, and the Future of Redevelopment Is Public-Private Partnerships
 
Chapter 1. The Cycle of Development, Optimal Redevelopment, Redevelopment Goals and Benefits, and Barriers to Redevelopment
Chapter 2. Implementation of Redevelopment Plans and the Role of Public-Private Partnerships
Chapter 3. Real Estate Finance and Development Basics
Chapter 4. Survey of Public-Private Partnership Tools and the Role of Public Patient Equity to Leverage Private Real Estate Development
Conclusion: America’s Progress Depends on Redevelopment through Public-Private Partnerships
 
Appendix A: Workbook User Guide
Appendix B: Simplified Depreciation Periods for Land Uses
Notes
References
Index

Educator Resources

Download the companion work to public-private partnership finance tools here.