HyettPalma
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Featured Project:
Downtown Syracuse, NY

HyettPalma defined a Downtown enhancement strategy for Syracuse, New York. The Downtown Syracuse Action Agenda was completed as part of the technical assistance program offered through the National League of Cities, called America Downtown® — New Thinking. New Life. Please click here for more information about America Downtown.

In defining the action agenda, HyettPalma found that Downtown Syracuse is a large and sophisticated area filled with incredible architecture, active private sector investors, and multiple anchors — such as a historic hotel, a community theater, a museum of science and technology, and an IMAX theater.

Syracuse’s private sector leaders had basic questions about Downtown’s enhancement. These questions involved national trends that are affecting Downtown success nationwide — and how they apply to Downtown Syracuse.

They sought HyettPalma’s guidance in answering their questions, because of the firm's expertise in advising Downtowns nationwide. Following is the portion of Syracuse’s Downtown action agenda which deals with questions posed by local leaders.

The following is an excerpt from the Downtown Syracuse Action Agenda, which was written by HyettPalma.

The following national trends, in and affecting Downtowns, are highly relevant to Downtown Syracuse. Therefore, they are being kept in mind in implementing the Downtown Syracuse Action Agenda.

Product, Price, Place, Pitch
The “field of dreams” approach to Downtown revitalization — if we build it, they will come — has been proven ineffective. Instead, the following “4 P’s” approach has been proven much more successful in bringing about significant Downtown economic improvements.

If we have an appealing product,
If we create a safe, clean, attractive place,
If we set the right prices,
If we effectively pitch what we have,
THEN they will come.

This winning approach — rather than the field of dreams approach to Downtown enhancement — is being used to entice consumers to Downtown Syracuse.

New Anchors Built-In Markets
Today, “nontraditional anchors” — attractors other than Downtown department stores — are drawing people to Downtowns, as well as creating markets within Downtowns. Downtown Syracuse already has a considerable number of nontraditional anchors. These include, but are in no way limited to, businesses that bring some 30,000 employees to Downtown daily; the convention center complex; the Landmark Theatre; the Hotel Syracuse; the government facilities; the Museum of Science and Technology; and the Bristol OMNITHEATER®. These new anchors bring people to Downtown who can become patrons of Downtown retail, service, and food businesses.

It must be noted that, due to corporate policies and consolidations, the vast majority of Downtowns in America today have lost their department store anchors. Syracuse is not alone in that regard. And, the vast majority of American Downtowns will not see the return of the department store. Therefore, nontraditional anchors — that create built-in markets — must continue to be developed in Downtown Syracuse.

Adaptive Use
Successful Downtowns nationwide have found new, economically viable uses for their underutilized or vacant structures — commonly referred to as “white elephants.” Evolve or die is the adage of successful Downtowns, just as it is for the “giants.” Shopping malls nationwide are being reinvented at a brisk rate — by changing their physical configurations, changing their store mix, and even by turning them into completely new uses — such as meeting/convention centers, office centers, and medical facilities. This is occurring because the marketplace, the consumers, and the competition is ever changing. And, to stay fresh and current, Downtown must also evolve in the face of change. Downtown Syracuse is on the crest of the wave in finding economically valid, new uses for its historic structures and should continue to do so.

Silver Bullets
A truism in the field of Downtown revitalization is that there are no silver bullets — single, large “savior” projects which will bring about Downtown’s revitalization once and for all. Instead, long-term Downtown success in this country has been won by communities that continually bring about a steady stream of small and medium-size improvements — and then leverage these so that they add up to huge successes.

Competing with Giants
Without a doubt, Downtowns cannot compete head-on with retail giants — the malls, the discounters, the power centers — and win. However, successful Downtowns have found that they can coexist alongside the giants with a great degree of economic prosperity. The key to doing so is knowing Downtown’s realistic economic potentials, creating a clear market niche for Downtown, and offering a unique product along with exceptional service.

Discounting Downtown
Downtown Syracuse is not the appropriate location for discounters, outlets, or off-price businesses. This would create a completely wrong image for Downtown — and for Syracuse — as a place for bargain shoppers. Instead, the center of one’s community — that area which conveys the community’s values and priorities — should be known as an area of quality that is accessible to all.

Heritage Tourism
“Heritage tourism” is the name used for those with an interest in visiting historic buildings, sites, and neighborhoods. And, today, heritage tourism is the fastest growing segment of the hospitality industry. Given its outstanding architecture, Downtown Syracuse has great potential for appealing to this tourist market. Further, recent surveys have found that the number one pastime of vacationers is shopping. Therefore, filling Downtown’s historic structures with unique businesses will result in superb tourism potential.

Pedestrianize
The trend across America today is to make Downtown at least as safe, comfortable and convenient for pedestrians as it has been for motorists. Communities are seeking to strike a balance between pedestrian and motorist traffic with improvements that make Downtown pedestrian-friendly. With the recent completion of approximately $10,000,000 in physical improvements throughout Downtown Syracuse, a major effort has been undertaken to make Downtown more pedestrian friendly. And, this balance has also been realized in Armory Square. A continued effort will be made to ensure a balance between the auto and the pedestrian throughout Downtown Syracuse.

Anoint Downtown
Over the last decade, Downtown enhancement has been a high priority of many local elected officials nationwide. Why? Because they have experienced the following fact:

As Downtown Goes,
So Goes the City, the County,
and the Region.

Downtown’s economic condition has a tremendous impact on job creation, quality-of-life, and the success of economic development initiatives region-wide. Therefore, a community’s leaders cannot afford to not anoint the Downtown enhancement effort. Instead, it must be recognized as a top economic development priority.

The Big Leagues
Downtowns that are known nationally as “great Downtowns” are those with sophisticated, professional Downtown enhancement programs and lively economies. These include Denver, Cleveland, Portland (OR), San Francisco, and Seattle — to name just a few. Downtown Syracuse has the potential to be — and should definitely be — considered one of America’s great Downtowns. However, if Syracuse wants to be in the big leagues, it must act like a big league player. This means it is necessary to:

• Create and sustain a lively Downtown economy — by defining and implementing a focused, market-driven, proactive enhancement effort; and
• Tell the country about Downtown’s greatness — by implementing a highly sophisticated, professional and aggressive marketing campaign.

Accepting the Challenge
Local elected officials who participated in the NLC/HyettPalma pilot program — Accepting the Challenge: The Rebirth of America’s Downtowns — identified the following lessons as highly important for Downtown success. These are being embraced in the enhancement of Downtown Syracuse.

• Revitalization Is a Continual Process
  The successful revitalization of Downtown is a constant process. Therefore, the City of Syracuse, the Downtown Committee of Syracuse and the entire community must be patient — and committed — to the enhancement effort over the long-term.
  
  While short-term, visible results — such as the filling of vacant buildings, the renovation of buildings, the enhancement of streetscape, the construction of a parking lot — are encouraging and important elements of a Downtown enhancement initiative, it normally takes several years to see significant economic success.
• Stay Focused
  In this day and time, local elected officials are pulled, pushed, lobbied, and, generally, torn by a multitude of interests and forces in a community. While Downtown enhancement is viewed as an important economic development issue in most communities throughout the nation, and in Syracuse, it is only one issue that elected officials must deal with on a constant basis.
  
  Competing interests seeking the attention of the local governing body make it difficult to stay focused on one issue, such as Downtown enhancement. However, the further revitalization of Downtown Syracuse must be kept on the agenda — as a priority item — if successful Downtown revitalization is to be attained.
• Economic Enhancement Is Critical to Success
  It has long been understood in the field of Downtown revitalization that a market-driven approach to Downtown’s enhancement is essential. While Downtown plays many roles in our communities, it is first and foremost an economic machine. Downtown Syracuse can only be enhanced by addressing its economic ailments with economic solutions. Business owners must become more market aware and market oriented — understanding their customers and clients, as well as the other business forces with which they share the marketplace. The City of Syracuse must understand that physical improvements alone will not enhance Downtown. Instead, through Downtown’s enhancement, jobs should be leveraged, more investment should be made in businesses and real estate, and more taxes should be generated in order to finance other vital public projects and services.
• An Aggressive Business Plan is a Must
  The pilot program provided the eleven cities with a business plan for their Downtowns. As one participating Downtown leader said, “One of the most useful elements of the pilot was the Action Agenda, which provided a step-by-step approach to the enhancement of Downtown.” It is critical that the Downtown enhancement effort be guided by a realistic, workable, step-by-step program of action — like the one presented in this document.
• Staff Support Is Essential
  Downtown enhancement is serious business. Therefore, successful Downtowns, just like successful businesses, need the attention and management skills of qualified staff on a daily basis.
• Volunteers Are Always Needed to Deal with Critical Issues
  As well-intentioned as government and professional staff may be, a considerable number of volunteers are always needed to implement the program of action. Volunteers must be motivated and dedicated to seeing the Downtown Syracuse enhancement effort succeed, over the long-term. And, volunteers must be goal-oriented people — satisfied only with accomplishment and success.
• Honest Communication Is A Key for Success
  Communication is often the single biggest obstacle to Downtown revitalization success. When business people, government officials, and the public do not have open lines of communication, it is difficult to sustain, or in many cases even start, a successful Downtown enhancement program.
  
  As noted by one of the pilot communities, “When self-interest groups oppose the Downtown revitalization effort — such as tax revenue monitoring groups — the point must continually be made that any action that benefits one of us surely benefits all of us.”
• Dedicated Partnership
  A private-public partnership — like the Downtown Committee of Syracuse — dedicated to clear, direct, and repeated communication with constituents is critical for successful Downtown enhancement. A private-public partnership allows the City and business community to work together to create a better relationship and a better Downtown.
• Proactive City Government
  The City must be proactive in encouraging revitalization through streamlined development processes. The City of Syracuse should have a lead person to “close the loop” on the private-public partnership — an administrative person or persons who understand and work with the Downtown community and development community to further improve the commercial district.
• Funding Is Critical
  In virtually all of the pilot communities, funding was seen as an obstacle which must be overcome if Downtown revitalization efforts are to move forward with significant success. The public sector needs to think of reinvestment in terms of public dollars over an extended timeframe. The private sector should understand that investment must be made in businesses, buildings, merchandise and services if greater gains are expected from the marketplace.
  
  A strong funding effort is essential to ensure financial self-sufficiency from the beginning of the Downtown enhancement program. Lack of public and private funding delays success.