What creates a community? Why does a person choose to live, work, visit, or leave a place? These are complicated questions with many different answers--especially today, in the age of a pandemic.

Local food systems are more important now than ever. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted lives and livelihoods, revealing some vulnerabilities in our nation’s food supply chain. Numerous meat-packing facilities were forced to close their doors as the virus spread in crowded working conditions.

Before Tiger King, there was the Great St. Louis Bagel Scandal. You remember: internet fury was unleashed on the St. Louis region in 2019 over an image of bagels sliced like bread. During the Bagel Scandal, the idea of actually making a homemade bagel was just a twinkle in my eye.

In 2017, a friend and I embarked on what might be one of the silliest things I’ve ever done. We ran from Manchester, Missouri, to Lafayette Square in the city of St. Louis, a distance of over 18 miles.

Economic development is a difficult task, and the frustrations are shared by staff at cities, counties, and regions of all sizes. As a local economic developer, the pressure is on to perform to the public's standards and display the fruits of your efforts at every turn.

The Downtown Revitalization and Economic Assistance for Missouri (DREAM) Initiative was a 10-year program that provided 39 Missouri communities with access to the technical and financial assistance to develop a Downtown Strategic Plan.

The Asheville Convention and Visitor's Bureau has hired PGAV to research and develop a list of priorities to better manage tourism and plan investments for the next decade, balancing the city’s tourism growth with the needs of local residents. PGAV is honored and excited to assist Asheville and the Buncombe County Tourism Development Authority with this important step in the evolution of their vibrant tourism economy.

The project represents a unique partnership between PGAV’s Planners and Destinations groups, drawing on the tourism design experience of the Destinations group and the financial expertise and community engagement experience of the Planners team.

PGAV Planners assisted the City of Grafton with a development finance incentive package to make this project a reality.  Incentives included TIF funding, and the establishment of an Illinois Business District that utilizes business district sales taxes from the various Aeries businesses located with the boundaries of the Business District.

The Branson Board of Aldermen has given final approval to the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) request for the Aquarium at the Boardwalk project. Designed by PGAV Destinations, the 46,000 square-foot aquarium will be located along Highway 76 in Branson, Missouri.

PGAV Planners collaborated with City Staff, Lauber Municipal Law, Armstrong Teasdale, Springstead, and Kuvera to make this project happen.

A ground breaking for the project was held on February, 27th with a planned completion in 2020.

PGAV Planners is excited to again sponsor the Illinois Tax Increment Association Conference! This year, the event is being held at the Hyatt Place Bloomington-Normal from April 24-26th. Save the date!

PGAV Planners’ Project Manager Jenny Ryan received the Community Planning Champion Award from the STL Metro Section of the American Planning Association at their October Luncheon.

The 2018 APA Bi-State Conference is a gathering of professional planners and planning officials across the Midwest. The 2018 conference takes place October 24-26 at the InterContinental on the Plaza in Kansas City. A group of more than 350 individuals, including professional planners, planning officials, lawyers, architects and developers, are expected to attend. 

The City of Vandalia, IL began work on their comprehensive plan with PGAV Planners. The community with support from the Gateway Association of Realtors is examining ways to continue the revitalization of their downtown and plan for future growth of the home of Illinois' oldest capital building.

PGAV Planners is excited to welcome Kaety Prentice as the second CityStudioSTL summer fellow.

PGAV Planners has developed a solution for displaying community information in a 3-D, interactive GIS product in which the user can view buildings, terrain, and parcel-level data. Interacting with the data on a new level helps us get to the whole story. An example of this work can be found here. Please contact us to learn more. We’d be happy to help you use this technology to tell your community’s story.

The City is using the Kearney Street Corridor Study from PGAV to create a redevelopment plan for the former Route 66 bypass.

Mike has served on the board for the previous two Illinois Comptrollers - Judy Baar Topinka and Leslie Geissler Munger. Mike also contributed to a Legal Brief on Tax Increment Financing in the October issue of the Illinois Municipal Review.

PGAV Planners is excited to welcome Casey Ryan as the first CityStudioSTL summer fellow. Casey is currently studying for her master’s of architecture degree at Washington University in St. Louis. Throughout her master’s studies, she has become interested in public engagement, social impact, and urban design. Casey will be working with Planners to design a plan for Chouteau Park in the Grove neighborhood, and she is very excited to learn more about urban planning and to implement social impact design principles on a real project.

A leader in economic development studies for around the county, Andy will  guide the firm’s marketing and business development efforts and develop strategies for expanding PGAV Planners’ national footprint in his new role.

The Agency is seeking applicants who can operate and manage complex redevelopment activities and identify opportunities for new redevelopment areas. This brochure provides the requirements for the ideal candidate.

PGAV will assist Memphis in searching for a new director for the agency responsible for planning redevelopment projects in the Uptown TIF districts. Read the article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.