City Council Agenda and Packet 2011 07 12 SP

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Saving old buildings creates more jobs than new construction, saves energy, says PlaceEconomics' Don Rypkema By Carma Wadley, Deseret News Old buildings are the new economy. These days, historic preservation is not just about preservation for preservation's sake; it has long -term economic impact, said Don Rypkema at the opening of this year's Utah Heritage Foundation Preservation Conference. Rypkema, the principal of PlaceEconomics, a Washington, D.C. -based real estate and economic development firm, spoke at the Salt Lake Main Library on Thursday night, talking about the role preservation plays in sustainable development. See both .hotos Click to enlar•e 8 Published: Sunday, May 22, 2011 Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News City Creek Center developers will use the former Deseret /First Security Bank building, shown here in August 2008, as office space as part of the downtown project. That's a catch phrase we hear often these days, Rypkema said, "but it's not just about adding solar panels. Sustainable development is the ability to meet our own needs without prejudicing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Historic preservation has a central role in all that." In the past five years or so, "there has been a lot of substantive research in this area," he said, which has identified four major economic impacts of preservation: creation of jobs and household income, increased property values, revitalizing the "Main Street community" and development of heritage tourism.