I have a commercial property management and leasing background (ten years), specialising in retail leasing in city centres (downtowns/main streets/town centres). Much of my work was property marketing and tenant selection, and included lease deals with Coles, Witchery, Cotton On, Just Jeans Group and other major national chains. A slideshow of my leasing deals can be found here.

This led to an interest in visual merchandising and urban design and other ways Mainstreets can affect the economic development of a region, and how Mainstreets/CBDs/downtowns can be utilised for social development too.

I began to work with local governments (City of Perth, City of Subiaco, Town of Claremont). They were looking for answers to the problems in their Mainstreet: increasing rents, displacement of independent retailers and the loss in specialised retail and services (such as butchers, delicatessens and bakeries). In 2009 I went to a local presentation by Gehl on his ‘Perth 2009 Public Spaces, Public Life’ study – a follow up from his 1994 one, and have been guided and influenced by his work since.

In 2010, I began a Masters in Sustainability Studies. The working title for my dissertation is ‘Sustainable Business Mix in Town Centres’, acknowledging that regional economic and social development can be enhanced – and decline avoided, I say - by better management of the factors that affect the retail sector in Mainstreets/CBDs/downtowns.

It was at this time that I became the City of Fremantle Economic Development Coordinator, who were looking to addresses problems in their CBD and retail layer. My plans at Fremantle involve setting up a Business Improvement District (01 July 2012 aiming for), which was approved by Council as a part of the new Economic Development strategy 2011-15 which we have been working on for the last six months.

In 2011, I also enrolled in Rutgers University in Massachusetts USA to do the Business District Executive Management Course, which I believe is the only one of its kind in the world ...

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If you have similar interests, why don't you make contact to share your experiences?

I can also be heard on my original music website:

www.moodiboy.com