Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/753030
78 S C T / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 "And we are doing it because cities aren't doing it for themselves." Boston's 23-acre Seaport Square, developed by Boston Glob- al Investors, is also linking communities. This Silver LEED–des- ignated project is appending several neighborhoods, including the waterfront and financial districts, and connecting other commercial projects in the process — notably, Fan Pier, Fort Point, Pier 4 and Waterside Place — into a unified, walkable district. In fact, Seaport Square is devoting the same amount of After the tragic mass shoot- ing at Pulse nightclub, in Or- lando, Fla., in June, Kimco's Sodo shopping center want- ed to show solidarity with the victims' families and the local community. "Pulse nightclub is located just one city block away from Sodo shopping center—close enough for residents of the neighboring Lofts at Sodo apartment complex to hear the attack, as well as to hit home for us and our patrons, which includes many members of the LGBT community," Charlotte Manley, director of real estate in the Florida Region for Kimco Realty, wrote on the company's blog. "It's a struggle for any community to deal with such an event, but by working together and following simple cues, it is possible to come through the other side stronger than before." Sodo served as a base camp for some of the crime scene workers and volunteers, she says. Sodo offered our space to counseling services, relief centers, and shelters for those waiting for news of family members and friends. "Coming together to support each other is important in times of tragedy. For us, this meant meeting with other community business leaders and representatives to determine the best ways to stand together as a resource for residents, honor the victims and move forward," Manley said. Sodo worked with the National Entrepreneur Center, which helps small businesses afflicted by calamities navigate in times of need and sorrow in the past. Sodo also worked with Downtown South, an Orlando main-street organization, to address the plight of the neighborhood with business owners. "We also collaborated with Target and the Lofts at Sodo, two non-Kimco properties, to combine our resources and aid in helping to stabilize the community where we could," Manley said. In addition to hosting a vigil for victims of the shooting, Sodo created the Rainbow Roundabout, a piece of civic art that turned one of the center's traffic cir- cles into a colorful landmark. "It provided a way to express our remembrance and grief in a way that is personal to our space, to Orlando and to the tragedy that happened here," Manley wrote. "No one wants to experience a tragedy like the one that hit Orlando. But by coming together as a community, offering the resources avail- able to us and showing just a little creativity, we used our strength to bring some color back in this dark time." ADDING A DASH OF COLOR TO THE COMMUNITY CROCKER PARK IS A CIVIC AND COMMUNITY SPACE, AND WE ARE DOING IT BECAUSE CITIES AREN'T DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES" square footage to its civic and cultural spaces (such as Seaport Square Park, with its memorial to fallen Massachusetts heroes) as to its retail: 250,000 square feet. Residence towers, a grocery and other community components are in the works too, due for a 2020 completion. Similarly, Hoffman-Madison Waterfront's new Wharf, a wa- terside promenade in Washington, D.C., will serve as a recon- nection to the city's waterfront and feature new community>> Yoga classes create a sense of community at Crocker Park "