Here’s a good example from Milwaukee (and other places). Of course, here in Madison, we’ve heard about some benefits, but weren’t not allowed to see what the agreement is.
Here’s a good example from Milwaukee (and other places) of what the public can get as a result of a community benefits agreement or CBA.
Here’s what the developer had to say about the Milwaukee project (page 11).
His $100 million Rivianna project will feature three 11-story condominium towers, an 80-room boutique hotel, 10,000 square feet of retail, a 470-vehicle parking structure, and access to the Milwaukee River.
Schultz is not seeking a city subsidy on the project, but is committed to providing community benefits with the development.
Some of the benefits include:
– environmental sustainability— silver LEED certification;
– job quality — the project will be entirely built with union labor;
– job opportunities — at least 25% of the onsite workforce will be women or minority workers, and all construction companies onsite will participate in union apprenticeship programs; and
– housing access — a significant number of units will be below-market, and 75% will be available for ownership via a lease-purchase program.Some of the project’s more unique contributions to the community include space for an artists’ co-op and gallery, opening public access to the Milwaukee River, a $5,000 rebate to veterans and union members on condo purchases, and
providing a rent-free unit to one college student every year who is committed to studying socially responsible real estate.
Sound familiar? Hotel on the water with housing and providing public space? But no subsidies and providing some moderately affordable housing.
My favorite quote from the link above is this one:
“From a tactical standpoint, a developer is always better off dealing with the community than politicians or the City. Politicians seem to find the most difficult road to get things done. If the City puts up unreasonable obstacles, community partnering often allows you to steamroll over them. At the end of the day, most politicians listen to their constituents,” says Goldstein.
Wow, we have the complete opposite here with the alder for the Edgewater project and many on the council, they have complete disdain for their constituents.
The Colorado project included things like:
For example, the project will include 350 very low-income affordable housing units (exceeding the City’s inclusionary zoning mandate) and a first-source hiring system for new jobs. The developer agreed to ban big-box grocery stores — which tend to depress wages for grocery store workers city-wide — from the site. Also showing its commitment to creating higher quality jobs, Cherokee agreed to use best value contracting in selecting its subcontractors, and to pay prevailing wage on about 1,000 project-related construction jobs. To help build the trust necessary for a fruitful long-term relationship, Cherokee formed the Voluntary Cleanup Advisory Board and made all documents related to the environmental testing and remediation at the site readily available to neighborhood residents.
Funny that “progressive Madison” is so far behind the times. The business community has really taken over and the community here is being left behind, even with our allegedly “strong” neighborhood associations.
let me know if you have other questions about the whole CBA thing.
