MEDIA ADVISORY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Alison D. Goebel 399 E. Main Street, Ste.140 Columbus, OH 43215 614-224-0187 217-841-5674 agoebel@greaterohio.org April 3, 2012
Greater Ohio Policy Center to Hold Ohio Properties Redevelopment Institute
Two day event will provide hands-on strategies to private and public sector leaders to generate redevelopment opportunities for Ohio’s vacant and abandoned properties.
COLUMBUS – Representatives from over 35 cities and towns in Ohio will gather here this week to examine cutting edge solutions to address problem property development challenges and generate redevelopment opportunities. The Ohio Properties Redevelopment Institute is a critical component of Greater Ohio Policy Center’s broader statewide initiative, “Healthy Properties, Rebuilding Communities,” which is shaping property redevelopment policy solutions and practices for comprehensive community revitalization in Ohio.
WHO: The Greater Ohio Policy will host more than 175 state and local leaders from Ohio’s legal, banking, property development, nonprofit, community development, and academic, communities in a two-day discussion on the challenges and opportunities to Ohio’s vacant and abandoned property crisis.
Local practitioners, financial institutions, and state and national level redevelopment experts will offer panel discussions on strategies for redevelopment. Professor Frank Alexander, a leading national expert on real estate finance and community redevelopment law will keynote Wednesday’s lunch.
WHAT: The two day event will arm local leaders with new property reutilization tools, showcase best practices from the private and non-profit sectors and provide opportunities for input into policy reforms that align with local community development needs.
WHEN: Wednesday April 4, 2012 8:30am-5:30 pm and Thursday, April 5, 2012 8:30am-3:30pm. Frank Alexander keynote is Wednesday April 4, 2012 from 11:30am-1:00pm. A Bank Panel on strategies to keep borrowers in their homes and discussion on neighborhood stabilization will take place on Thursday April 5th from 1:30pm-3:00pm.
WHERE: Columbus Hyatt Regency (McKinley and Hayes Rooms) 350 N. High Street Columbus, OH 43215
There is a Self-Park Parking lot at the Chestnut Street Parking Garage for $12. It is located 1 block south of the hotel on Chestnut Street. When entering the garage, please take a ticket and park as normal. The garage connects to the Hyatt Regency Columbus via a covered skywalk and can be accessed on the 3rd floor of the garage.
Journalists attending the Ohio Properties Redevelopment Institute should check in with the Event Registration desk, located outside the McKinley Room.
WHY: Vacant and abandoned properties have been on the rise in Ohio’s cities and towns for over two decades -- long before the national economic downturn hit in 2008 This Institute comes at a critical time as Ohio’s communities struggle to stem the tide of vacant and abandoned properties. The Institute’s goals of training and education, coalition-building and policy advancement are vital economic development interventions that will productively reshape Ohio’s communities.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS: This Institute is part of Greater Ohio Policy Center’s “Healthy Properties, Rebuilding Communities Initiative,” which aims to equip local leaders with information, policy ideas and practices necessary to make progress against this crisis and to advance state policy reforms that are aligned with local action. Addressing the physical deterioration of our cities and town is a critical economic development strategy that will help restore our state's prosperity as a whole.
For additional information please visit http://greaterohio.org/initiatives/ohio-properties-redevelopment-institute, or contact Samantha Spergel at 614-224-0187 or via email at sspergel@greaterohio.org.