The mission
Local governments own immense amounts of property, structures, and other assets they may not fully utilize — in some cases without knowing what they own or what it's worth. Putting Assets to Work helps governments understand exactly what they have, what it's worth, and how that value can be leveraged to fund residents' priorities without raising taxes.
Three steps, start to finish.
Asset Mapping
In partnership with experts, the government inventories publicly owned assets. Typically, the value far exceeds estimates based on historical purchase cost.
Asset Selection
The government identifies underutilized assets to develop to their highest and best use, within parameters set by policymakers.
Asset Repurposing
The asset is improved, managed, and maintained; the new value and revenue transfer to the public as concrete benefits, with oversight throughout.
Where the program works
Cohort and engagement locations across the country.
Voices from the program
“We pulled together what we called our housing strike force to look across all of the publicly held land… The resulting collaborative atmosphere proved to be an accelerant; 35 public land projects are currently in the pipeline.”Josh Humphries, former Senior Housing Policy Advisor, City of Atlanta
“We realized our property portfolio is pretty vast and we're not using it to its maximum potential. Joining the PA2W incubator is an opportunity for us to think differently and think smarter about our real estate portfolio… so we're not wholly reliant on property tax revenue.”Kimberly Olivares, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, City of Austin