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Cushman & Wakefield’s Global Economics team has produced “Re-Imagining Cities, Disrupting the Urban Doom Loop”, a report that studies diminished vitality in Urban Areas since the Covid Pandemic began. Considering data from fifteen American cities, the team describes the Urban Doom Loops afflicting our cities and provides recipes for turnarounds.
In 2020 to 2021 American walkable urban places (WalkUps) entered a significant downturn in office occupancy, visitor counts, foot traffic and street level vitality. Property valuations have suffered and with that, city tax revenues. For some WalkUps, the downturn is structural and long-term, for others, it is episodic, with turnarounds underway.
The cities enjoying successful WalkUp turnarounds are now in virtuous loops, providing a recipe for other WalkUps. Louisville has key elements in place for a turnaround but we have work to do.

The following are three key insights from the research.

1. Consider a WalkUp as a portfolio of properties. A balanced and diverse portfolio of office, residential and entertainment properties contributing to a vital and economically vibrant area.

• Occupied office properties provide economic stability and foot traffic.
• Residential properties, both for rent and for sale, provide foot traffic and stability.
• Entertainment properties such as arenas, museums, theaters, and restaurants, provide much needed visitor experiences, increased foot traffic and more spending relative to office and residential.

Today, Louisville’s CBD has a property portfolio that is overweight in office buildings and underweight in residential properties. We will enjoy benefits from the addition of residential properties. Fortunately, Louisville enjoys a wealth of historic properties available and ripe for conversion to residential. Additionally, the city has numerous museums, theaters, The YUM Center, LouCity FC, and superb restaurants. Bourbonism and Horse Racing are signature attractions for visitors providing unique experiences only found in this area.

2. The Public Sector plays a key foundational role in turnarounds by focusing on public safety, expediting zoning and permitting, and providing economic incentives. The Public Sector makes the right thing easy to do. Louisville’s CBD enjoys a flexible zoning classification which allows for a wide range of uses and flexibility. With increased public safety and expedited permitting, Louisville will encourage new redevelopment projects.

3. With conditions that enable swift development, investors buy, redevelop and fill properties with employees and residents. Developers have an opportunity to succeed. As a consequence, the city enters a virtuous loop; foot traffic increases, visitor counts improve, economic growth occurs, property values rise and in turn, tax revenues increase.

To read Cushman & Wakefield’s full report, click here.