Focus on fitness puts Innovation Park in global ULI spotlight

Apr 29, 2014 | Business Growth

Cover of ULI publication, Building for WellnessPeople working at Innovation Park can exercise in a $1 million fitness center, take YMCA exercise classes, go for group walks and bike rides on free loaner bikes and attend monthly wellness seminars. Such health-promoting programs – and the surge in leases that have filled the 2-million-square-foot former IBM plant – have earned Innovation Park a spotlight in the Urban Land Institute’s new report, “Building for Wellness: The Business Case.”

Urban Land Institute emphasis on health

The Urban Land Institute, a global land-use and development think tank, decided in 2013 to promote health in projects and places across the globe.
The new report looks at 13 examples of new and renovated construction and planned communities that embody that approach while demonstrating the economic value of doing so. The projects range from a master-planned single-family-home community in Australia to the transformation of a 1907 office building in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District into residential lofts, retail and commercial space.
When BECO South bought the former IBM complex four years ago, less than a third of the space was leased. The center is now fully leased with more than 5,000 people and tenants including Wells Fargo, Siemens, and AXA Equitable. French engineering firm Areva moved its North American headquarters here in 2013. The latest arrival, Allstate, will add another 1,200 workers by 2015.

Innovation Park’s programs

Health and wellness components at the 13 featured developments include project designs that encourage physical activity such as active staircases and walking trails; fitness and wellness programs; and partnerships with local groups.
At Innovation Park, University City YMCA manages the fitness center, provides exercise classes and leads the group walks and bike rides. BECO South also partners with a chiropractor with offices at Innovation Park to provide monthly wellness seminars.
BECO South provides a small fleet of loaner bikes for people to ride around the campus and on the nearby Mallard Creek Greenway. The company also promotes a half-mile of corridors as an indoor track.
Mercedes Merritt, head of leasing for BECO South, says the glass-walled fitness center – well positioned near the main entrance – has played a critical role in the facility’s rapid lease-up.

Common themes

The ULI report found several common themes among the 13 projects – most notably a strong market response in the form of much faster lease-up and sales rates than the developers expected; higher rent than pro-forma projections; waiting lists; and new interest by lenders and investors. Developers generally reported the additional cost of these wellness components were minimal.
Theresa Salmen, district council coordinator at ULI Charlotte, said that ULI seeks to show the development community that many small improvements can help tenants’ health while improving a building’s bottom line.
“There are many little things you can do to make a significant impact,” she said. What makes the BECO South improvements so important, she adds, is that they support the business case for including health amenities. “Having that business case is so significant,” she said. “Without it, what does it mean? It’s just a pipe dream.”

Download the report

Learn more about the ULI Building Healthy Places Initiative and download its report, “Building for Wellness” >> LINK

 

0 Comments


Receive Up to Date News


Receive Economic Development News


View Past Newsletters


View Post by Category


Press Releases

Meet our new intern, Haley Chilcott

Haley Chilcott is our new Marketing Communications Intern here at University City Partners. Haley is an undergraduate student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and is majoring in Communications, with a concentration in Public Relations. After graduation...

University City Partners welcomes our newest board members

  University City Partners welcomes its newest members of the UCP Board of Directors: Charlotte City Manager Marcus Smith and Michael Fung, a regional leader for Wells Fargo's Corporate Properties Group. The University City Partners Board of Directors consists of...

Response to tragic police incident and unrest

Last night our community was at the center of a tragic police incident followed by several hours of demonstration, aggressive agitation and unrest. Our neighborhoods, businesses, retail centers and institutions were impacted with activity that has left us all feeling...

Introducing our UNC Charlotte interns

University City Partners is proud to introduce our "Class of 2016" - our fall semester interns from UNC Charlotte. Seniors Hollis Maye-Keye and Cagney Reeves will help us with communications and planning - key functions for our success. We encourage you to consider...

UCP video report: Planning for our transit-powered future

University City Partners has launched a new feature - a monthly video report on how we are investing time and resources to build University City. Today's report: UCP is leading a planning effort to make the area around the future JW Clay Transit station a more...

Our 2016 Annual Report chronicles a landmark year

The dramatic changes taking place across University City can be hard to keep up with - unless you have the University City Partners annual report. Our brand new 2016 University City Partners Annual Report chronicles these changes over the past year (July 2015-June...

University City Partners welcomes new board members

University City Partners welcomes four new members to its board of directors, including two UNC Charlotte grads. Tracy Dodson with Lincoln Harris, John McAlister with Electrolux, Phil Nicholenko with TIAA and Jane Wu, founder of Carolina States Regional Center, have...

Thanks for taking our survey; we heard you!

Our recent invitation to take a brief survey about University City Partners drew more than 100 participants and many useful responses. ”The survey was like a pulse check to make sure that what we are hearing in our meetings also represents the opinions of all of the...

University City Partners adds planning & development director

Tobe Holmes has joined University City Partners as its planning and development director. Holmes, formerly with Center City Partners, will oversee all UCP planning and development initiatives. At Center City Partners, Holmes managed economic and community development...

Meet our UNC Charlotte interns

One benefit of having UNC Charlotte nearby is the amazing wealth of student interns. We landed three of the best this semester: Meredith Avant (Communications with PR concentration), Miguel Avila (Economics with innovation focus), and Charles Trowell (Architecture...