Fixing retail with land value capture

6 hours ago

Retail plays a crucial role in making cities vibrant and interesting, contributing to what urban economist Ed Glaeser calls the 'consumer city'.
Retail businesses struggle due to online shopping, reduced foot traffic from remote work, and crime, leading to high closure rates.
Retailers create value that often benefits property owners more than themselves, leading to a 'leaky value capture' problem.
Unified ownership models, like shopping malls and mixed-use developments, help capture spillover benefits within a development but not for the broader community.
Examples from Hong Kong and Japan show how transit systems can profit by owning and developing land around stations.
Local taxes and hyperlocal authorities, like Business Improvement Districts, can help fund and sustain retail by capturing value from increased property values.
Special Purpose Bonds and mixed homeowners’ associations could provide funding mechanisms to support retail as a public good.
The future of retail may shift from selling goods to providing 'third spaces' or community commons, though these models may underprovide spillover benefits without proper value capture mechanisms.

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