Mayors of Columbus, Richmond, Salt Lake City and Tucson Selected as 2018 Class of Daniel Rose Land Use Fellows

WASHINGTON, D.C. – (RealEstateRama) —  The National League of Cities (NLC) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI) today announced that mayors from four cities—Columbus, Ohio; Richmond, Virginia; Salt Lake City, Utah and Tucson, Arizona—have been selected as the 2018 class of Daniel Rose Land Use Fellows by the Rose Center for Public Leadership. Mayors Andrew Ginther, Levar Stoney, Jackie Biskupski and Jonathan Rothschild will lead teams from their respective cities who will receive technical assistance on a local land use challenge from NLC, ULI and their peers from the other fellowship cities. The four city teams will convene next week for a retreat at ULI’s Fall Meeting in Los Angeles.

“Land use decisions are critical to the overall success of city economic and community development,” said Clarence E. Anthony, CEO and executive director of the National League of Cities (NLC). “We are thrilled to extend the expertise of the Rose Center for Public Leadership Land Use Fellowship to the cities of Columbus, Richmond, Salt Lake City and Tucson, and we look forward to seeing the opportunities and outcomes that these partnerships provide.”

“The Rose Center’s fellowship program has a consistent track record of mayoral teams effectively working together to help solve the land use challenges of our nation’s leading metropolitan areas,” said ULI Global Chief Executive Officer Patrick L. Phillips. “Cities are the heart of our country’s economy, serving as hubs for human capital and innovation. We are excited to partner with NLC and the new class of Rose fellows to highlight creative approaches and solutions that other communities can replicate to become more healthy, prosperous, and sustainable.”

The Rose Center’s mission is to encourage and support excellence in land use decision-making by public officials. Established at ULI in 2008 with a $5 million gift by ULI Foundation Governor Daniel Rose, the Rose family and ULI in 2014 formed a strategic partnership with NLC to bring its expertise in local government leadership to the Rose Center’s programs. The center operates two, year-long fellowship programs for large U.S. cities that emphasize leadership, inter-disciplinary problem solving, public/private collaboration, and peer-to-peer learning—one focused on land use, the other on equitable economic development. It also hosts forums, educational workshops, webinars and conference sessions to bring private sector expertise to public sector implementation strategies.

Now in its ninth year, the land use fellowship begins with the selection of four mayors, each of whom chooses three additional fellows (city department leaders or public agency directors with land use decision-making authority) and a project manager to serve as their city’s fellowship team. The program of work includes working retreats at NLC and ULI annual conferences at the beginning, mid-point and end of the program year, a study tour of another U.S. or foreign city, and peer exchange panel visits to provide technical assistance to each of the four fellowship cities.

The 2018 Rose Land Use Fellowship teams are as follows:

• Columbus: Mayor Andrew J. Ginther; his Deputy Chief of Staff for External Affairs Dawn Tyler Lee; Department of Development Director Steven Schoeny; and Brent Sobczak, president of CASTO Communities. The project manager is Mark Dravillas, assistant administrator of the Department of Development’s Planning Division.
• Richmond: Mayor Levar Stoney; District 7 City Councilmember Cynthia Newbille; Deputy Chief Administrative Officer of Operations Robert Steidel; and Jane Ferrara, chief operating officer of the Department of Economic & Community Development. The project manager is Ellyn Parker, public art coordinator at the Department of Planning & Development Review.
• Salt Lake City: Mayor Jackie Biskupski; Michael Akerlow, deputy director of the Department of Community & Neighborhoods; Nick Norris, director of the Department of Community & Neighborhoods’ Planning Division; and Danny Walz, chief operating officer of the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City. The project manager is Amanda Holty, marketing and communications specialist at the Redevelopment Agency of Salt Lake City.
• Tucson: Mayor Jonathan Rothschild; Assistant City Manager Albert Elias; Carolyn Laurie, a principal planner in the Planning & Development Services Department; and Daniel Bursuck, a lead planner in the Planning & Development Services Department. The project manager is Jaimie Galayda, the mayor’s policy advisor for planning, transportation and sustainability.

“These mayors and their teams are bringing fresh approaches to the often-vexing challenges of land use in their cities,” said Jess Zimbabwe, NLC’s director of urban development and leadership, who directs the Rose Center. We look forward to sharing national best practices and expertise with them, and also to learning from them how to apply those lessons to the unique contexts of their particular political culture and real estate market.”

To assist the fellowship city teams, the Rose Center has assembled eight urban development and design leaders from around the nation who will serve as their faculty advisers over the course of the fellowship year and co-chair their peer exchange panel:

• Columbus’s advisers will be community engagement and planning expert Antoine Bryant, principal of the Houston-based Bryant Design Group; and Lev Gershman, managing partner of San Diego-based Tideline Partners, a boutique real estate investment, development and management firm.
• Richmond’s advisers will be Andre Brumfield, who leads Gensler’s planning and urban design practice from its Chicago office; and Colleen Carey, president of the Minneapolis-based Cornerstone Group, which seeks to transform communities through socially responsible development projects.
• Salt Lake City’s advisers will be Nolan Lienhart, principal and director of planning and urban design at the Portland, Oregon office of ZGF Architects; and Molly McCabe, president of Bigfork, Montana-based HaydenTanner, which provides development-impact analysis of community renewal and social equity, health and productivity, job growth, energy/water efficiencies, as well as risk and return.
• Tucson’s advisers will be Jane Lin, founding partner of San Francisco-based Urban Field Studio; and Tyrone Rachal, president of Atlanta-based Urban Key Capital Partners, which provides financial services to impactful real estate development projects and operating companies in distressed communities.

Since its inception, the Rose Fellowship has worked with 32 cities across the United States: Anchorage, Alaska; Austin, Texas; Birmingham, Alabama; Boston, Massachusetts; Charlotte, North Carolina; Denver, Colorado; Detroit, Michigan; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Hartford, Connecticut; Honolulu, Hawaii; Houston, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; Kansas City, Missouri; Long Beach, California; Louisville, Kentucky; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Memphis, Tennessee; Nashville, Tennessee; Oakland, California; Omaha, Nebraska; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Phoenix, Arizona; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; Providence, Rhode Island; Rochester, New York; Sacramento, California; San José, California; Seattle, Washington; Tacoma, Washington; Tampa, Florida; and Washington; D.C.

The fellowship teams have successfully led changes in their cities after receiving technical assistance and strategic advice on topics such as revitalizing aging commercial areas to attract new businesses and jobs; how new investment in older neighborhoods can more equitably benefit existing residents; the role of transit and transportation infrastructure in city building; and developing new community engagement models in transitioning neighborhoods.

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About the National League of Cities

The National League of Cities (NLC) is dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages. www.nlc.org 

About the Urban Land Institute

The Urban Land Institute is a nonprofit education and research institute supported by its members. Its mission is to provide leadership in the responsible use of land and in creating and sustaining thriving communities worldwide. Established in 1936, the institute has more than 40,000 members worldwide representing all aspects of land use and development disciplines. For more information, please visituli.org  or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Contact: Trish Riggs, 202-624-7086;