This story originally appeared on fortworthinc.com
There is a first rule to the concept of Innovation Districts, according to the Emmett “Doc” Brown of Innovation Districts.
“Well,” said the erudite Omar Blaik, with the seemingly somewhat steady patience of a seasoned professor breaking down a complex idea into a digestible part, the first thing is “we don’t call it an Innovation District.”
When Doc Brown, the eccentric inventor introduced to us years ago in “Back to the Future,” known for his deep understanding of interconnected systems, speaks, people listen.
Blaik, CEO of U3 Advisors and a consultant working for the Fort Worth-Tarrant County Innovation Partnership, clarified his position. The correct term is “mixed-use” districts, which, to the listener, doesn’t sound innovative at all. That sounds like your standard walkable mixed-use development.
It sounds like a case of tuh-MAY-toh, tuh-MAH-toh, though I wasn’t about to challenge Mr. Blaik on it. His opinion was far weightier and informed than mine and he was quite adamant about what he thought about it.
It was tantamount to asking Schwarzenegger in his prime Conan-the-Barbarian-seeking-revenge-against-the-sorcerer years for an arm wrestle. Hard pass.
At any rate, he made his remarks during a pre-Thanksgiving lunchtime roundtable titled, coincidentally, “Innovation Districts: How Universities and Anchor Institutions Can Leverage Real Estate for Economic Growth.” It was hosted by the Greater Real Estate Council of Fort Worth at Palmwood Events downtown at the Frost Bank building.
In addition to Blaik, John Goff, chairman of Crescent Real Estate, and Texas A&M School of Law Dean Bobby Ahdieh were panelists with Alex Feldman, managing director of U3 Advisors, serving as moderator.
The focus was the transformation of the once quiet and for years desolate southeast corner of downtown into full bloom as the campus of Texas A&M-Fort Worth and, as Goff said, something “much more than that.”
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