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NEWS RELEASE
President and Managing Director Jim Louthen is proud to announce the introduction of ReTown, a highly integrated team of real estate planners, investors, and builders dedicated to thoughtful revitalization of towns and cities. The ReTown approach has three phases: ReThink, ReInvest, and ReBuild. ReTown believes the heart and soul of every town and city is its community. “Each community has unique opportunities and challenges,” Mr. Louthen says. “To preserve the integrity of a place and provide a better quality of life for everyone, ReTown master-plans to reflect fundamental yet vital considerations: How will businesses co-exist harmoniously with residences? How will the future maintain ties to the past? How will buildings be complemented by parks and other natural spaces? How will economic growth find the perfect balance with sustainability?”
Mr. Louthen believes ReTown’s competitive strength is its wealth of experience in securing the financing necessary to turn ideas and designs into reality. “We routinely partner with both the private and public sectors, and have successfully recruited private investment, negotiated TIF redevelopment agreements, guaranteed traditional bank debt, and secured grants and tax credits,” Mr. Louthen says. “These investments create office and retail centers, multi-unit apartments, new neighborhoods, homes, parks, landscapes, industrial centers, transit-oriented developments, and infrastructure improvements to streetscapes, pedways, and waterways. In turn, we also create jobs and additional revenues.”
A ReTown partner is T2 Capital Management, an opportunistic, privately held real estate firm that provides speed, flexibility, and reliability in the acquisition and financing of real estate assets. The firm seeks to acquire or finance high-quality real estate assets throughout the Unites States in which there is a clear exit strategy and value-add potential. T2 acquires assets both as a sole owner and joint venture partner, and provides financing at multiple positions in the capital stack. T2ʼs management team has led or participated in a total of over $1 billion in commercial real estate investments across the entire capital stack over their careers. Mr. Louthen is working on a portfolio of developments that include skilled nursing facilities, and market-rate and affordable housing for seniors. Recent T2 capital deployments have included investments in senior housing, office, retail, industrial, multi-family, and hotel properties.
Mr. Louthen also points out that ReTown has more than 100 years’ collective experience, and has designed, financed, and constructed residential, business, and land reclamation developments collectively worth more than $100 million. “We excel in all phases of development, including land assembly, site acquisition, entitlement, zoning, financing, construction, and property management,” Mr. Louthen says. “We work closely with state and local officials, investors, engineers, contractors, business owners, residents, special interest groups, architects, landscapers, tradespeople, marketers, and IT specialists, to provide comprehensive and consolidated supervision.”
The ReTown partnership also includes Arkinetics, an architectural firm in the Cleveland and Lorain, Ohio area that provides architectural planning and design, interior design, historic preservation, urban planning and design, construction administration, and project management. ReTown and Arkinetics are currently working on the revitalization of the Broadway Building in Lorain, Ohio, into new market rate up-scale luxury rental housing targeting active adult seniors and young professionals. Previously, Mr. Louthen and his team developed the nearby Black River Landing, a $7 million multi-modal center and riverfront park located on a 13-acre parcel along the Black River that features trails, gardens, amphitheater, weekly concerts, a water taxi to fishing islands, a community building, and the permanent home to Lorain’s acclaimed annual International Festival & Bazaar. Black River Landing and the Broadway Building are directly accessible to public transportation, shopping, and the region.
Mr. Louthen also leads a single-family home renovation business aimed at neighborhood revitalization that works closely with investment company Residential Dynamics Group, a residential real estate investment firm focused on the rehabilitation of distressed properties in the Midwest that has acquired over 1,000 assets since inception, and has invested over $170 million in its strategies.
Mr. Louthen’s 25-year career has given him vast experience across all disciplines of commercial, industrial, and residential real estate development, including master planning, design, finance, policy, land assembly, landscape architecture, civil engineering, site acquisition, and construction. Jim has expertise in private and public financing, and has successfully negotiated TIF redevelopment agreements and secured grants and tax credits. Mr. Louthen was the innovator and Director of the Chicago Design Studio at URS Corporation, a leading international provider of engineering, construction and technical services. As Project Manager for DLK Architecture, Jim supervised large infrastructure projects including the Wacker Drive Riverwalk in Chicago, Illinois. From 1993 to 1995, Jim was a landscape architect for the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Illinois, working on multi-use trails, ecosystem restoration, and grant stewardship to fund new projects. Jim also worked as Policy Coordinator for Friends of The Chicago River, funded through a grant from the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. His effort aided the adoption of the “Chicago River Urban Design Guidelines.”
For more information, contact ReTown at info@retown.com