Jon Walton attends HighStreetPositives LIVE in Bath

What we’re reading this week 📚 - Power to Change’s new high street playbook. The report offers an interesting approach to community-led regeneration and social infrastructure through high streets, exploring what stronger community roles could mean for transforming high streets and town centres. It also reflects wider questions about social infrastructure - the spaces, relationships and local networks that support everyday connection and wellbeing. Through Big Local, we’ve seen how important these foundations can be to community-led change, particularly in areas where they are often weakest. Take a look 👇

With a new governmental High Street Strategy on the horizon, we've spent lots of time in these past few months thinking about what it should offer and how it can build on the vision and energy from community-led regeneration that's already underway. Above all, it's clear that the strategy needs to look beyond a retail-led model for the high street and finally put a civic, mixed-use and experiential model front and centre of policy making. This briefing digs deeper on some of the policy ideas we've been working up at Power to Change and the work with community businesses that have helped inform them. We'll be continuing to develop these ideas, and make the case for community-led regeneration, in the months to come.

High streets have more to offer than just retail. They can be places for connection, culture, and public services, creating more vibrant places and stronger local economies. We know that when communities have the power to influence local decisions about their high street, they become more resilient to challenges and can enjoy the spaces that bring them together. Our new briefing, The Civic High Street, sets out how to back that momentum with a clear national vision. Discover five practical steps for government to unlock the civic high street: tackling vacancy through new ownership models, supporting councils to use existing powers, improving data transparency, reforming meanwhile use, and enabling communities to move from temporary use to long-term stewardship. 👉 Read the briefing: https://lnkd.in/eD7Waquj ✍️ Jessica Craig #HighStreets #Regeneration #CommunityBusiness #SocialEconomy #ImpactEconomy

"Empty high streets are a sign of decline, and make people feel frustrated at the state of their local area. Declining towns produce alienation, and that’s a political problem. Realistically, saving the high street requires the flexing of state power." This piece by John Oxley makes a clear case to reverse the long-term decline facing many high streets by embracing and facilitating a mixed-use model. At Power to Change, we’re seeing first-hand that the future of the high street isn’t just retail-led. Our work points towards a civic high street - where community businesses, housing, workspace, culture and public services sit side-by-side. If we want resilient, thriving high streets again, we need to move beyond short-term interventions and towards long-term, community-powered transformation. Keep an eye out for our upcoming report with recommendations on how to do just that. Read the article 👇 https://lnkd.in/edZsapwv

There's something really strange going on in NYC real estate nowadays. There seem to be two competing realities, and in either reality, no one seems happy. Owners are frustrated by rising costs and regulations, and their inability to recoup those expenses due to rent freezes. Meanwhile, tenants are upset about affordability, the availability of (or lack thereof), and the quality of living options. IMO, the only clearly obvious reality is that the City's math is working for increasingly fewer and fewer people. Yet, the public conversation about this topic consistently frames this as a one-sided debate. They seem to be saying that only one side of the equation is struggling. And that is where the two realities collide! Until we can recognize both realities in one merged vision and one shared conversation, it's going to become harder and harder to find REAL solutions that actually work for the city long term. #mythoughtoftheday

At the 7th annual Development Conference, #BilzinSumberg welcomed the City of Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins for a candid conversation on the future of the city with Head of Land Use & Zoning practice Javier Aviñó. Mayor Higgins shared her vision for streamlining permitting, accelerating workforce and affordable housing development, strengthening resiliency standards, and advancing transit-oriented growth across Miami. From same-day permits for smaller residential projects to modernizing outdated city systems and prioritizing customer service at City Hall, the discussion highlighted a clear focus on making Miami more efficient, resilient, and livable as the city continues its rapid growth. Read Law360's recap by Nathan Hale for additional key takeaways from the conversation: https://lnkd.in/eHgTfNWx?

City Heights is often discussed as a single market — but that framing misses the real story. In practice, City Heights is made up of multiple micro-neighborhoods with different buyer profiles, price behavior, and long-term trajectories. Heading into 2026–27, those distinctions matter more as affordability pressures push buyers to think strategically rather than emotionally. This guide breaks down the 10 best neighborhoods in City Heights, focusing on livability, access, and value positioning — not just reputation. For buyers and investors alike, understanding where within City Heights to focus can materially change outcomes. 👉 Read the full guide: https://buff.ly/pYTk6WD

New York keeps talking about affordability, housing, safety, and economic development like they are separate conversations. They are not. They meet on the street. A restaurant cannot survive if the block has no foot traffic. A landlord cannot stabilize a property if the tenant mix is dead. A neighborhood cannot grow if every local operator is stuck between rising costs, slow permits, and customers with less disposable income. The city needs to stop treating small businesses like decoration for policy announcements. Food operators, vendors, markets, cafés, bars, and cultural events are not side characters. They are the operating system of neighborhood life. You want safer streets? Keep them active. You want stronger corridors? Fill them with businesses people actually use. You want local wealth? Lower the friction for the people already building it. The answer is not another panel. It is execution.

Small business corridor activity is a practical indicator of neighborhood health. Stronger ground-floor energy can lift foot traffic, improve perceptions, and support broader leasing narratives. Revitalization often starts at street level, block by block. #SmallBusiness #RetailActivation #NeighborhoodStrategy #SanFrancisco #UrbanRevitalization #CRE #WestvaleCRE

Commercial asset performance is all about foresight, scale, and seamless operational execution. Co-X Holdings is incredibly proud to celebrate our portfolio company, Pivot Parking, on securing 301 South Tryon (the landmark former Two Wells Fargo Center) in Uptown Charlotte! 📈🚘 Charlotte remains one of the fastest-growing commercial and mixed-use hubs in the Southeast. By deploying their signature, tech-forward management structure to one of the city’s most recognizable business district assets, the Pivot team continues to prove that parking is a dynamic revenue-generator and a premium property amenity. Exceptional work by the entire Pivot team on expanding their footprint and continually raising the baseline for parking asset value. Read their full announcement below! 👇 #CoXHoldings #PortfolioSuccess #CommercialRealEstate #AssetPerformance #PropertyManagement #UptownCharlotte #ParkingOperations #GrowthScale