Whole Place Plans
Strategy at the scale of a city.
A Whole Place Plan is a district- or city-wide redevelopment strategy — the kind of work that requires a public-private coalition of capital, partners and leadership before the first building is touched. We lead the visioning, narrative, business plan and coalition-building that dictates the shape of place.
District or city scale. Public-private coalitions.
Downtown Detroit
- Client
- Various (Hudson-Webber Foundation; Rock Ventures)
- Before
- Downtown Detroit in the mid-2010s — emptied by decades of suburbanization, unable to attract private investment at scale, civic narrative running negative.
- Why it was hard
- Capital markets wouldn't underwrite. Companies wouldn't relocate. The story had to change before the real estate could.
- Role
- Josh was recruited to support Detroit's emergence from bankruptcy. He then served as Chief Operating Officer to Dan Gilbert, overseeing a for-more-than-profit reorganization of the Rocket family of companies across businesses, real estate and professional sports — aligning private enterprise with long-term civic stewardship — all in the interest of stemming Detroit's population loss.
- Outcome
- Over $5.6B invested; 100+ properties acquired and redeveloped; 14M sq ft across the 7.2-square-mile footprint; corporate HQ relocations and a broader renaissance of office, residential, retail, and hospitality.
Chattanooga's Historic Southside
- Client
- Lyndhurst Foundation
- Before
- Post-industrial Chattanooga after decades of population loss. The Southside — warehouses, factories, an emptied industrial district. No shared civic thesis for the neighborhood.
- Why it was hard
- Capital wasn't flowing. Entrepreneurial talent had left. The neighborhood had to rebuild the demand for its own future before any real estate thesis could land.
- Role
- Co-founded CreateHere, which led one of the largest community visioning efforts of its time. Catalyzed adaptive reuse of warehouses and factories into lofts, hotels, restaurants and creative offices; seeded a generation of entrepreneurs and civic leaders.
- Outcome
- The Southside transformed from a neglected industrial district into a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood through public-private investment. Chattanooga is now the first National Park City in the United States — part of a broader civic turnaround that has collected national recognition across outdoor recreation, downtown revitalization, and economic development.
Jackson Rising
- Client
- Community Foundation for Mississippi.
- Before
- Jackson has lost 57,000 residents since 1980 — shrinking from 202,895 to 145,995, or roughly 3,500 people a year — across a 113-square-mile city. The long decline weakened Jackson's capacity to deliver essential services and amplified challenges in public safety, infrastructure, housing and economic opportunity. Agencies and organizations operated in silos; no shared civic roadmap existed.
- Why it was hard
- A city whose civic investment had eroded over decades. Institutional silos and duplicated efforts. Limited public-sector capacity. A persistent trust deficit between residents and leadership that had to be earned back before any plan could land.
- Role
- Designed, launched and ran Jackson Rising — a citywide planning and engagement process that convened 300+ residents and leaders across 30+ workshops in 14 focus areas (growth, public safety, infrastructure, blight, economy, technology, downtown, neighborhoods, parks, education, unhoused conditions, arts, interfaith, storytelling).
- Outcome
- Delivered a prioritized Investor Menu of actionable projects with budgets — a coordinated plan for collaboration, resource alignment and cross-sector problem-solving. Lead philanthropic commitments secured from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Community Foundation for Mississippi, Great City Mississippi, and Nancy & Ray Neilsen.
- Read more
- jxnrising.com
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