Special Projects

The City of Cape Girardeau is located in southeastern Missouri on the Mississippi River. The historic community of just under 40,000 residents engaged Benchmark Planning to assist the City with the development of a plan to revitalize the riverfront Red Star neighborhood, which was once the home of a major employer in the community – the Red Star Shoe Factory. Following the closure of the factory and subsequent flooding events, a large swath of the neighborhood adjacent to the river had become a negative influence on the community, and the City and the Red Star Neighborhood Association looked to leverage the riverfront land resources in this area, along with the recently developed Isle of Capri Casino between the neighborhood and downtown.

In 2022, the Lake Toxaway Community Associated hired Benchmark Planning to develop a strategic plan for the unincorporated community in western Transylvania County, North Carolina. Lake Toxaway is the largest privately held lake in the State, covering 640 acres with 14 miles of shoreline. Lake Toxaway is a premiere year-round and second home destionation featuring the lake, a country club, ample recreation, and access to great hiking, fishing, and dozens of waterfalls. The community is surrounded by over 5,000 acres of wooded forests and mountains but within an easy drive of Asheville, Atlanta, and Greenville.

In 2019, Benchmark Planning led a multi-disciplinary team in the preparation of an NCDOT and City of Goldsboro funded feasibility study for the reuse of the historic Goldsboro Union Station. The team examined existing conditions, market forces, and the surrounding neighborhood as part of the process. The process also included extensive stakeholder meetings to help identify community needs and ideas for the adaptive reuse of the station. The station provides a distinct terminus to views from downtown and its adaptive reuse will help spur the continued revitalization of the West Walnut corridor, which includes a multi-million-dollar residential redevelopment of the historic Wayne National Bank located in the 100 block of West Walnut Street. The reuse options were designed in a manner to assure the station can be available for passenger or commuter rail use when the service becomes available again in the future. Goldsboro, a city over 35,000 in population, is the home of Seymour Johnson Air Force Base.

Benchmark Planning prepared an assessment and audit of the City of High Point's Planning and Development Department that included a particular focus on understanding customer satisfaction with the inspections Services Division and Development Services Division. Recommendations were provided in the areas of organization structure and staffing, administration, technology, customer service. Following completion of the audit, the City implemented significant changes to the overall structure of the Department, staffing, and customer service relations.

In 2021, the Town of Mooresville hired Benchmark Planning to assess the feasibility of establishing a building inspections department. The feasibility study considered growth trends and future impacts on permitting and related activity that would influence the size and scale, staffing, and necessary equipment to support a newly established building inspections department in the short- and long- term. Prior to the assessment, building inspections were conducted by Iredell County. Following the assessment, the Town has successfully implemented a municipal building inspections department, providing greater oversight of permitting and development review.

In 2022 and 2023, Benchmark Planning worked with the Blue Ridge Corridor Alliance in Raleigh to outline a blueprint for establishing a potential Greater Blue Ridge Corridor Business Improvement District, known as a Municipal Service District in North Carolina. The corridor is home to a wide-variety of healthcare, university, office, business, government, college and professional sports, entertainment venues, and residential neighborhoods. Some of the major public entities and uses within the corridor include the North Carolina State Fair, NC Museum of Art, UNC Rex Hospital, PNC Arena, and NC State University. The study examined potential boundaries for the district, potential revenues and services, organizational structure, general operating plan and budget, and included an action plan for moving forward.