Donovan Rypkema speaking at Restore Jacksonville conference Friday morning

[grimss]

This guy is a towering figure in the preservation world, and is perhaps its most articulate voice on the intersection of economics, sustainability, redevelopment and historic preservation. If you care about the economic redevelopment of downtown and neighborhood commercial centers (and since you're on MetroJAX, I've got to assume you do), you owe it to yourself to listen to this man's ideas and then spread them liberally through the halls of the St. James Building. Registration http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1923064939?ref=ebtnebregn for the Friday seminars (which also include Steve Mouzon on "Repairing Sprawl" and Wayne Wood on "Art as a Catalyst for Revitalization of the Urban Core") is $25, but you can get a 5-day pass that includes a whole host of homeowner-oriented seminars on Saturday, as well as special tours on Sunday, for just $50. More on Rypkema:

Donovan Rypkema â€" Breakfast Speaker, Friday (May 4): Principal of PlaceEconomics, a Washington, D.C.-based real estate and economic development-consulting firm; and author of The Economics of Historic Preservation: A Community Leader’s Guide, published by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Rypkema’s firm specializes in services to public and non-profit sector clients who are dealing with downtown and neighborhood commercial district revitalization and the rehabilitation of historic structures. In 2004, he established Heritage Strategies International, a new firm created to provide similar services to world-wide clients.   Today, Mr. Rypkema is recognized as an industry leader in the economics of preserving historic structures. Since 1983, he has provided ongoing consulting services to the National Trust for Historic Preservation and its Main Street Center.

Rypkema was educated at Columbia University, where he received a Masters of Science degree in Historic Preservation.  He has lectured widely on economic and preservation issues relating to rehabilitation, community development and commercial revitalization. His specific fields of consultation include feasibility analyses for real estate and market analysis, economic revitalization of downtowns and neighborhood commercial centers, and the rehabilitation of historic structures.  He has also authored several publications, including Community Initiated Development, The Economics of Rehabilitation; the Downtown Real Estate Development Series, among  others.