Innovation Engine
From Industrial Edge to Innovation Engine
In the early 2000s, Praxisma’s principal was engaged by a visionary developer to help transform a long-overlooked industrial district adjacent to a major urban core into a vibrant, future-oriented innovation district. What began as a fragmented landscape of warehouses and underused parcels has since evolved into a dynamic urban environment that now anchors some of the city’s most influential economic activity.
Praxisma led the creation of a district-wide master plan, introducing a form-based code, new urban design standards, and a phasing strategy to support both rapid investment and long-term placemaking. The plan included a framework for over 70 city blocks, new multimodal street grids, a modern streetcar line, activated pedestrian corridors, and guidelines for integrating mixed-income housing, retail, office, and civic uses.
Today, the district is home to major innovation tenants, residential neighborhoods, public parks, and cultural destinations—supported by over $2.8 billion in private investment since the plan’s adoption. The transformation has generated an estimated $1.3 billion in new tax revenue, while setting a precedent for equitable, transit-connected urban redevelopment.