What does one do with a large underutilized industrial site within the urban fabric of a downtown? When many of the surrounding sites and buildings have been redeveloped into office space, condominiums, hotels, retail, and restaurants, it is unlikely that a municipality would want such a site to be restored to functioning industrial uses. The next logical question that arises is, "Why has this site not been redeveloped into similar uses to its adjacent context?" Typically, sites like this often have several impediments to development including contamination from past industrial uses, limited site access, and an extensive scale. These questions formed the basis of this investigation into the future potential of Reed Street Yards.
The intent of this project is to design a new type of development that combines entertainment, healthy living, and ecological responsibility into a holistic experience creating an Entertainment Lifestyle Center. Transforming Reed Street Yards into an Entertainment Lifestyle Center will produce a prototype for redeveloping extensive brownfield sites into diverse activity nodes that spur further development within their district, and attract people at local, metropolitan, and regional levels.