Vince Myers, DIG President, Panelist for CCPA Meet the Developers Series

Center City Proprietors Association (CCPA) invited Vincent Myers, AIA, LEED AP, President, DIGroup Architecture, to be a panelist at their “Meet The Developer” series.

With new developments, redevelopments and construction projects underway, Philadelphia is experiencing an exciting period of growth. As the perceptions of Center City’s boundaries change, some of the city’s innovative developers, builders, architects and engineers – the visionaries who are driving changes to Philadelphia’s skyline and expanding neighborhoods – spoke at this event.

According to Myers, “The urban landscape is changing in Philadelphia and other urban centers everywhere as a result of the pandemic. Many companies and institutions are rethinking their spatial needs by choice or were permanently shuttered, leaving voids throughout the city.

For real estate developers, this creates attractive opportunities for adaptive reuse consideration. Conversions of former hotels, offices, university buildings and factories into residential units, affordable housing and mixed-use development are trending strong.

As architects we endorse adaptive reuse as it is a sustainable way to preserve the architectural elements and rich history of older buildings for future generations to appreciate, as well reinvest and enrich our communities.

We are taught to understand urbanism and can recognize areas with development potential which the untrained eye cannot see. An architect can help develop a project in many ways; inspect and evaluate properties, visualize spatial and sustainable solutions, and preserve historic materials and features. However, one who understands a project from a business perspective, who has financial experience, and an understanding of how economic factors influences future development, can contribute greatly to a project’s commercial success.”