Photo Credit: City PaperBob Tennenbaum was the chief architect for Columbia in the early years. He worked at Jim Rouse’s side as Columbia took shape on the farm lands of Howard County. Recently he remarked to me that he never heard Jim use the word “vision.”
You’d never know that by listening to the debate over General Growths redevelopment plans for Columbia Town Center. Proponents and opponents frequently bring up Jim’s “vision” for Columbia when arguing their points.
Jim Rouse was a real estate developer. All real estate developers are visionaries by necessity. They possess the ability to see homes and shopping centers on empty fields. They can “see” bustling modern marketplaces in dilapidated urban wharves. This is an essential tool to their success because the most important skill a successful developer needs is salesmanship. A developer needs to convince politicians and financiers buy into his plans. To do that he needs to articulate a vision of his plans to compliment his architectural renderings and colorful layouts.
This vision needs to be understood in its context. It is an essential part of the “sell.”
For example: Early plans for Columbia included a dedicated roadway system for mini buses. This was a part of Rouse’s plan that distinguished it from other developments. It was widely touted as a mass transportation innovation in those early years and some of the roadways were actually built. It was later abandoned because it proved to be economically unfeasible.
Does that mean his vision was flawed?
Hardly. Like any developer he simply adjusted his plans and moved on.
That is the other skill required of a real estate developer; the ability to adapt to change.
For example: Rouse worked hard to get General Electric to locate a massive appliance park in Columbia. He believed Columbia needed a combination of heavy and light industry jobs to succeed. When GE decided to abandon Columbia and consolidate manufacturing operations in Louisville, Kentucky, Rouse adjusted his plans. Realizing that Columbia’s labor force was changing from what he originally expected, the company exercised its option to buy back the industrial park from GE and created Columbia Gateway Corporate Park.
Those who “reach back” and point to what Jim Rouse may have said forty years ago seem to forget this. Jim Rouse was not an oracle. He was a successful real estate developer who understood that in order to prosper, you need to adapt.
You’d never know that by listening to the debate over General Growths redevelopment plans for Columbia Town Center. Proponents and opponents frequently bring up Jim’s “vision” for Columbia when arguing their points.
Jim Rouse was a real estate developer. All real estate developers are visionaries by necessity. They possess the ability to see homes and shopping centers on empty fields. They can “see” bustling modern marketplaces in dilapidated urban wharves. This is an essential tool to their success because the most important skill a successful developer needs is salesmanship. A developer needs to convince politicians and financiers buy into his plans. To do that he needs to articulate a vision of his plans to compliment his architectural renderings and colorful layouts.
This vision needs to be understood in its context. It is an essential part of the “sell.”
For example: Early plans for Columbia included a dedicated roadway system for mini buses. This was a part of Rouse’s plan that distinguished it from other developments. It was widely touted as a mass transportation innovation in those early years and some of the roadways were actually built. It was later abandoned because it proved to be economically unfeasible.
Does that mean his vision was flawed?
Hardly. Like any developer he simply adjusted his plans and moved on.
That is the other skill required of a real estate developer; the ability to adapt to change.
For example: Rouse worked hard to get General Electric to locate a massive appliance park in Columbia. He believed Columbia needed a combination of heavy and light industry jobs to succeed. When GE decided to abandon Columbia and consolidate manufacturing operations in Louisville, Kentucky, Rouse adjusted his plans. Realizing that Columbia’s labor force was changing from what he originally expected, the company exercised its option to buy back the industrial park from GE and created Columbia Gateway Corporate Park.
Those who “reach back” and point to what Jim Rouse may have said forty years ago seem to forget this. Jim Rouse was not an oracle. He was a successful real estate developer who understood that in order to prosper, you need to adapt.
