Early Alignment – The Second Key to Placemaking

Real Estate Development

Read Time: 2 Min

We’ve shared a lot of information with you over the last few months in regards to placemaking and real estate development. You either know it like the back of your hand, or you may need a refresher — let’s go over what we’ve learned so far:

Placemaking imbues physical buildings and locations with meaning by putting people first.

There are steps real estate developers can take to successfully implement placemaking within a project — in what we call “The 3 Keys of Placemaking.”

The first key to placemaking is having a shared vision, a.k.a., a mental image of the look and feel of a development and what it will mean to the community.

If none of that looks familiar to you, you may have missed a few steps — head back to our previous posts for more information, or better yet, dig right into our full real estate development research report where we take you deeper into the topic.

Now that you’re familiar with the first key to placemaking, let’s talk about the second — early alignment.

3 Keys Graphic

What do we mean by early alignment?

Where a shared vision speaks to the mental image of the look and feel of your development and what it will mean to the community, early alignment puts all the stakeholders at the same table for discussion. In order to define and set the shared vision for the project and avoid an insular view, all business partners should be engaged early on — timing is everything. As architectural and branding decisions get made, the two processes should influence each other equally from start to finish — the success of this is only achieved through early alignment.

Learn more about how early alignment benefits the success of your project by digging deeper into our report findings.

Want to Learn How to Make Your Community Stand Out?Download AOR’s Free Research Report — “Making Places”

Discover the power of putting people first, and let it change the way you approach your property development project. You’re one step away from the keys to success.

How does placemaking come into play?

If everyone has a seat at the table from the beginning, and all agree the vision should lead the decision making process, the better the chances of successful placemaking. By aligning early on, the vision will carry through each facet of the project — the architectural design, logo, wall colors, etc. will all connect and, in turn, be meaningful to the intended community.

Early alignment leads directly to a vision brought to life, and higher chances of success.

Wavy line graphic

Conclusion

A shared vision and early alignment go hand-in-hand. The earlier you get everyone involved on board with the vision, the more successful placemaking will be for your project — that’s why early alignment earned a spot in AOR’s 3 Keys of Placemaking. We gathered more information from our respondents throughout our research. Dive deeper by reading our research report, and stay tuned for our thoughts on the third key to placemaking — knowing your audience.

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