Vandewalle & Associates, Inc. seeks a creative, highly experienced individual to serve as a principal planner in our growing downtown Milwaukee office.  For over 30 years, Vandewalle & Associates, Inc. has been restructuring the economies and rebuilding the fabric of urban, suburban and rural communities across the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest.  The firm, made up of a highly talented, multidisciplinary staff of planners, economists and designers, is seeking a collaborator with a proven track record in redevelopment planning and implementation.  The ideal candidate will have a minimum of 10 to 15 years of experience in planning, economic development, and/or real estate development and a master’s degree in a related field. An understanding of the unique economic opportunities and challenges confronting the Midwest is essential, with direct project experience in the Milwaukee or Chicago areas preferred.  The principal planner position is engaged in all aspects of project management, but also has significant marketing responsibilities and performs some administrative and supervisory functions as well.  All interested persons are requested to immediately forward a resume and cover letter to the address provided below.  Phone calls and e-mail inquires are welcomed.

Vandewalle & Associates

Founded over 30 years ago by Brian Vandewalle, who continues as its president, Vandewalle & Associates is one of the largest independent planning and urban design firms in the country.  The company is focused on strengthening and rebuilding communities primarily across the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest region and offers a wide range of services including traditional comprehensive planning and zoning, urban design and landscape architecture, downtown and waterfront redevelopment, economic restructuring, Brownfield reuse and redevelopment, and related services.

The firm has a dynamic staff of nearly 40 professionals, technicians and support personnel, with three levels of professional staff consisting of assistant, associate and principal planner/designer in ascending order of experience and responsibility.  Firm management is largely focused on project management, as opposed to personnel management, with all projects approached as a multi-disciplinary collaborative drawing from the staff in our redevelopment, growth management and design divisions.  Vandewalle & Associates has established a solid reputation for creating high-level, exciting community visions and plans as well as providing the implementation expertise necessary to make them a reality.  Over 90% of the firm’s work is from repeat clients, many of whom have been working with the firm for over 20 years.  The firm’s website, www.vandewalle.com, provides summaries of both services and current work.

Principal Redevelopment Planner

Headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, Vandewalle & Associates established its only other office in 2005 in downtown Milwaukee to play a greater role in reshaping and rebuilding one of the Great Lakes’ most dynamic and progressive regions.  In order to better serve this growing marketplace and increase our access to the other major urban areas of the Great Lakes, we are expanding the Milwaukee office to a total of three full time employees in 2008.

This principal planner position is part of the company’s redevelopment division, which focuses on economic restructuring and physical redevelopment in urban and suburban areas.  Typical projects include initial redevelopment plans and implementation strategies, TIF and BID creation, design and zoning overlay districts, developer and business recruitment and negotiation, and on-going implementation project management.  Principal planners are responsible for all phases of the work including budget management, directing project content and direction, leading public participation programs, and client contact.  The position also has significant marketing responsibilities including potential project/client identification, directing the preparation of project proposals, and participating in project interviews.  In addition, the position provides general supervisory oversight of the assistant and associate planners in the division.

The primary focus of the office and the position are urban sites and corridors within the greater Milwaukee and Chicago areas as well as the other major urban centers of the Great Lakes Region, including Canada.  Accordingly, the position will require frequent day travel by car and occasional travel by air with some overnight stays. Significant interaction with, and frequent travel to, our Madison office also is expected.

Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate will have a minimum of 10 to 15 years of experience and an established track record in planning, economic development, and/or real estate development and a master’s degree in a related field.  An understanding of the unique economic opportunities and challenges confronting the Midwest is essential, with direct project experience in the Milwaukee or Chicago areas preferred.  Also required is a thorough, working knowledge of public-private partnerships and a variety of mechanisms to move redevelopment projects through implementation, such as TIF’s, BIDs, bond funding, grant writing, site assembly, developer recruitment, business recruitment, public improvements planning, and development review.  The ability to explain complex projects to the public and elected officials is essential, along with an ability to gain the trust and support of private sector corporations and developers.

Previous work experiences may include serving as a city planning or economic development director, executive director of an economic development corporation, project manager for a private developer, or a similar high level position with significant visibility in a community and regular contact with the community’s public and private sector leadership.  The individual must have a reputation for collaborative problem solving and a portfolio rich with innovative and successful redevelopment projects.  Experience working with disadvantaged and minority neighborhoods and businesses is a plus.

Inquiries

All interested candidates should immediately submit their resume and cover letter with salary requirements to Jenny Kurt, Administrative Services Manager, at the e-mail address shown below (no hard copy follow-up is necessary).  Phone or email inquiries about the position may be directed to Jenny or to Scott Harrington, Principal Planner, at the phone number or email addresses shown below.   The position is open until filled.  Salary is DOQ.  The company offers a full complement of benefits including paid vacation and sick leave, and medical, dental and disability insurance.  Vandewalle & Associates, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer.

Jenny Kurt, Administrative Services Manager

Vandewalle & Associates, Inc.

120 E. Lakeside Street

Madison, Wisconsin 53715

608-255-3988

jkurt@vandewalle.com

sharrington@vandewalle.com