The Westside Pavilion mall in Los Angeles California was a cultural touchstone for generations. But, much like other shopping malls across the county, it struggled to find its footing in recent decades. After closing in 2019, adaptive reuse efforts reshaped the former mall to meet the demands of the current market.

After decades of battling flooding issues, the Lake Hiawatha Golf Course in Minneapolis is getting a makeover. The City’s Park & Recreation Board recently voted to reduce the number of holes on the course in favor of expanding wetland and woodland areas for flooding mitigation. Now, they are seeking public comment on the proposed designs.

Good news for fairgoers and commuters alike: After being closed for maintenance and repairs since last October, Interstate 94 reopens temporarily to accommodate State Fair traffic.

Six new roundabouts are coming to the City of Baxter. The project, which will reshape the intersection of Highways 210 and 371, has been dubbed the “buttonhook.” The unique design has raised a few eyebrows.

A new business incubator, food hall, and community event center is coming to St. Paul’s East Side. Located on Payne Avenue, Plaza del Sol is anticipated to open this December, following a $11 million renovation effort.

Within its first year of operation, the Amtrak Borealis line saw over 205,000 passengers, more than 70,000 riders than originally projected. The success of the Borealis line and another Midwest route, the Empire Builder (which connects Chicago to the Pacific Northwest), demonstrates a growing demand for rail travel options in the region.

On June 5, the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) held lotteries to determine license-holders for the state’s new recreational cannabis market. The lottery was for general applicants and Social Equity Applicants (SEA) seeking cannabis cultivator, manufacturer, retail, and mezzobusinesses licenses.

Many car manufacturers are trading traditional halogen bulbs for LED headlights. While LED lights offer better visibility for drivers, improved energy efficiency, and longer lifespans, they also create increased glare for oncoming traffic.

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically shifted the work environment. With more people working remotely, many office buildings have struggled to find or hold on to tenants. Minnesota lawmakers are taking a stab at breathing new life into empty office buildings by offering 30% state tax credit for developers who rehabilitate or convert historic buildings.

Earlier this year, Esri’s ArcGIS Living Atlas team released the American Community Survey (ACS) Atlas Collection, a suite of interactive mapping applications with current (2019 – 2023) U.S. survey data. The Collection features a variety of information about demographics, housing, and social and economic characteristics.

On February 27^th, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously passed an amendment to the existing ordinance allowing residents to utilize the greenspace between the road and the sidewalk (known as a “boulevard”) for gardening. Boulevard gardens not only make streetscapes more visually interesting, they also can be a source of fresh food and community connection.

Culdesac Tempe is a 17-acre mixed-use development that has garnered attention for being a car-free neighborhood in the heart of the Phoenix valley. Located in a city that has historically been heavily car-dependent, Culdesac is connected via a network of walkable, shaded corridors. The development doesn’t have any residential parking – instead, it utilizes all that extra space for walking paths, outdoor seating, the occasional outdoor market, and other civic amenities.

Whether you plan to watch this year’s Super Bowl for the game, the commercials, or for the much-anticipated Kendrick Lamar and SZA halftime show, it’s bound to be a spectacle. The Big Easy is hosting the big game on February 9^th, and New Orleans is leveraging America’s most-watched sporting event to its advantage.

SHC’s sister company, Kamp, was recently featured in The New York Times. The piece highlights the disparities and discrimination that exists in the real estate and development field, particularly for women.

In 2022, the City of Madison’s Community Development Authority (CDA) shared an ambitious plan to redevelop “the Triangle,” a pizza slice of land spanning approximately 10-acres near downtown. The project is well underway, but it will likely continue to experience redevelopment for years to come. In the meantime, the project represents an effort to provide additional affordable housing to the community.

Every year, as the leaves start to change and spooky season approaches, Spirit Halloween rises triumphantly from the grave and transforms strip malls across the U.S. As strip malls adapt to the shifting retail landscape, Spirit Halloween exemplifies how pop-up stores can offer creative solutions, if only for a season, to help bring struggling retail spaces back from the dead.

On October 4, Seattle opened its long-anticipated Overlook Walk, a multi-billion dollar civic project that stretches across the Emerald City’s iconic waterfront. The project represents a massive investment in accessible, pedestrian-friendly, and sustainable design.

Terminal 2 saw its busiest month ever this March. Overall, demand for travel has increased in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic. Last month, the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) launched a $263 million expansion of Terminal 2 at MSP, which will incorporate a variety of green building systems. Other airports across the country are also jumping on the sustainability train . . . or, er, plane.

The Cabot Street Bath in Boston was the first public pool in the US . . . well, as the name implies, it was really more of a giant bathtub. Recreational swimming supports mental and physical wellbeing and can promote water safety, but public swimming pools can be hard to find.

If you’ve driven past Allianz Field in Saint Paul lately, you may have noticed a few changes. The 34.4-acre site will soon have new retail space, office buildings, and even a giant loon sculpture.