Start with a plan, then issue an RFP

What I have been realizing more and more lately, is that many of the "problems" we have with regard to properties and issues in our neighborhoods result from lack of planning, not too much planning.

The Kennedy School Bed and Breakfast is a nationally known example of a great adaptive re-use project of a once neglected, vacant, and abandoned public asset in Portland, Oregon.

I knew the building was rehabbed by the McMenamin brothers (see "Oregon’s McMenamin Brothers"), but I didn't know how the process started. Yesterday, I came across this Master Plan document for the Kennedy School site, from the Portland Development Commission.

It's another example of the need for a plan in advance of other actions, such as issuing request for proposals. Rather than expect the market to proffer the solution a community would like, why not develop the scenarios for the solutions first, and then solicit proposals?