MAINE REAL ESTATE & DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION AGAIN BRINGS TOGETHER NATIONAL AND LOCAL EXPERTS TO ITS ANNUAL SPRING CONFERENCE - NEW URBANISM: CREATIVE MODELS FOR INNOVATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH On May 17th, MEREDA will bring together national and local planning experts who think about large scale urban issues. This year's Spring Conference will engage us on how to re-set and re-focus on how we think about the American city. This event will help real estate professionals understand better the trends that are quickly hanging our established patterns of development and investment, pulling back from the “fringe suburbs” and in to the more dense, pedestrian-friendly city centers that were neglected and abandoned starting in the 1950s. This conference is virtually a must for real estate professionals to better understand what is facing Maine cities, and what other urban areas around the country are doing to creatively address the re-urbanization of America.

Joining us are nationally recognized special guests, land use strategist, teacher, developer, researcher and author, Christopher Leinberger, a Visiting Fellow with the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institute and president of LOCUS, a national transit-oriented development advocacy organization, and Lara Hodgson, co-founder of Insomnia, an Atlanta-based firm specializing in investment, development and management of complex and innovative "world-changing" projects.

Local experts Patrick J. Venne, Esq., JD/MCP, Land Use Attorney, Planner, and Author, John M. Rohman, P.E., CID, Maine Certified Interior Designer & Professional Engineer, and Alex Jaegerman, City of Portland Planning Division Director will discuss “New Urbanism” trends and challenges in Maine, exploring how established patterns of development and investment are changing. Panelists will share examples of what other communities around the state are doing to address the re-urbanization of their city centers.

The conference will be held on May 17, at the DoubleTree by Hilton (formerly the Wyndham Portland Airport Hotel) in South Portland from 1:00-5:00 pm with a social hour from 5:00–6:00 pm.

The conference is sponsored by: People’s United Bank, Mainebiz, Building Solutions, Pierce Atwood, LLP, City of Gardiner (Libby Hill), SMRT, PDT Architects, and GrowSmart Maine.

For more information visit www.mereda.org.

About MEREDA (www.mereda.org) Founded in 1985, MEREDA is a statewide organization of commercial real estate owners, developers and related service providers, whose mission is to promote an environment for responsible development and ownership of real estate throughout the State of Maine through legislative advocacy, educational programs and professional networking opportunities.

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