A Real Urban Village Proposal

From the Free Press. As my reader wrote in sending me this:

• "This is an interesting article...read what is going on here. Two years ago this was property of a world headquarters and two years later they have a plan. Those Yanks don't screw around. Some lessons can be learned here."

And in case you wondered, the size of the site is 43-acres!

• "We are excited to bring this world-class mixed use project to Troy," Chris Carbone, a director at BlackRock, said in a prepared statement. "The vibrancy of the retail beneath distinctive residential units surrounding the pavilions in the village green will make the Pavilions of Troy a unique regional draw."
  
  The Kmart building that occupies the site opened in 1972 and was vacated in 2006 as Kmart merged with Sears Roebuck & Co. and moved its headquarters to Hoffman Estates, Ill.
  
  In proposing a walkable, outdoor-oriented mix of shopping, offices, residences and entertainment, the developers are bidding to create a downtown in the heart of suburbia.
  
  The project needs the approval of the City of Troy, where many officials greeted the proposal with enthusiasm. Mayor Louise Schilling called it “the beginning of our renaissance in Troy.”
  
  Richardson said developers would file their formal application with the city within a week. He hoped for approval by the end of this year, with construction to begin in 2008 and the first phase ready for opening in 2010.
  
  The first phase would include:
  
  • 290,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.
  
  •200,000 square feet of anchor tenants — including a health club, grocery, theaters and bookstore.
  
  •About 50,000 square feet of office space.
  
  •About 200 units of residences, with condos selling in the $300,000 to $400,000 range.
  
  •Possibly a hotel with up to 250 rooms.
  
  Eventually, the project might include up to 750 residences, including some senior housing, and 300,000 square feet of office space.
  
  “What you want is as much activity” within a five-minute walk of the center of the project, Richardson said. “You want people living there, working there, in order to make it active even at times when it’s not historically active.”
  
  Other phases might follow if the first one succeeds. “It’s a balancing act as to how you create these things,” he said. “It’s got to feel complete so that there’s never a gap in your experience.”