RETAIL DEVELOPMENT: FROM SHOPPING CENTERS TO TOWN CENTERS,
A NEW EXECUTIVE EDUCATION COURSE OFFERED BY THE KNIGHT PROGRAM IN COMMUNITY BUILDING ON APRIL 28-29. 2005

MARCH 9, 2005 -- Retail Development: From Shopping Centers to Town Centers, held April 28-29, 2005 on the Coral Gables campus of the University of Miami, is an intensive introduction to the subject and part of a series of executive education courses offered by the Knight Program in Community Building at the University of Miami School of Architecture. This course combines real estate development with the School of Architecture’s expertise in New Urbanism.

This two-day course explores the topic of retail development with a focus on the field’s current opportunities and challenges. Attendees learn from retail industry experts with experience in successful projects throughout the country.

Retail remains the fastest moving real estate sector, subject to rapidly changing consumer demand for individual products, categories of merchandise, and varied shopping experiences. The challenges of developing, leasing, marketing, financing, and managing retail properties have never been greater: open-air centers dominate the retail landscape while enclosed shopping malls continue to evolve and reposition themselves; the big boxes grow ever bigger; consumers’ appetite for casual dining and entertainment increases; and the grocery-anchored center and anchors for shopping centers and malls are being redefined.

Urban retailing and mixed-use approaches are also increasingly important, not only for town centers, main streets, and city shopping districts, but also urban entertainment centers, lifestyle centers, and conventional shopping centers where land is expensive, communities demand more compact development, and vertical mixed use can increase development potential and add value.

Attendees Learn

• Evolution of retail development
• Creating a business plan for retail development
• Planning and design concepts
• Defining merchandising mix
• Entitlements/approvals/permits
• Market and feasibility analysis
• Predevelopment
• Project financing
• Construction and tenant coordination
• Asset management

Instructors

• Ralph Conti, lead course instructor, partner and vice president of development, North American Properties, Atlanta
• Charles Bohl, research associate professor and director, Knight Program in Community Building
• Emerick Corsi, executive vice president, Forest City Enterprises, Cleveland
• Bob Gibbs, Gibbs Planning, Birmingham, MI
• Gordon “Skip” Greeby, principal, Greeby and Associates, Chicago
• Yaromir Steiner, founder & CEO, Steiner & Associates, Columbus
• Mark Toro, regional partner, North American Properties, Atlanta
• Invited speakers: Daniel Hurwitz, executive vice president, Developers Diversified Realty, Beachwood, OH; Dr. Hank Fishkind, principal, Fishkind & Associates, Orlando

Tuition           

The course fee is $750 ($500 for public sector/nonprofit employees and UM faculty, staff, and students) before April 8, 2005 and $825 ($575 for public sector/nonprofit employees and UM faculty, staff, and students) after April 8, 2005. There is an additional charge of $120 for those receiving FL AIA Continuing Education Credit. Checks or money orders should be made payable to the University of Miami

Further Information

Please visit our website, www.arc.miami.edu/knight or contact Julia Pizarro at jpizarro@miami.edu or 305.284.3731.

About the Knight Program in Community Building

The mission of the Knight Program in Community Building is to advance the knowledge and practice of effective community building through an innovative series of interdisciplinary initiatives including fellowships, conferences, charrettes, courses, and publications.The Knight Program is based at the University of Miami School of Architecture and is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of twenty-six U.S. communities.

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