Robert A Simons (Roby), Ph.D.
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 Title: Professor
 Dept: Urban Studies
 Office: UR 223
 Phone: 216-687-5258,  216 401 1700
 Email: R.SIMONS@csuohio.edu
 Address: 2121 Euclid Ave. UR 223, Cleveland, OH 44115

Courses Taught

Publications


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Research Keywords:
urban planning, contaminated land, brownfields, environmental damages, fiscal impact analysis, housing policy
 
Education:
Ph.D., City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Master of Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.S., Economics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
B.A., Anthropology, Colorado State University
 
Brief Bio:
Robert A. Simons is a Professor and former director of the Master of Urban Planning, Design and Development program at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio.  He is also the faculty advisor for the Certificate Program in Real Estate Development and Finance, offered in conjunction with the Nance College of Business at CSU.  During Fall 2005, Dr. Simons was a Fulbright Scholar at Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Dr. Simons received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in City and Regional Planning, with an emphasis in real estate. He also holds a Master of Regional Planning and a Master of Science in Economics, both from U.N.C. His undergraduate degree in anthropology was earned at Colorado State University. He has been a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) since 1983. Dr. Simons is in the inner leadership group of the American Real Estate Society (ARES), and will be program chair in 2009-2010 and President in 2011-2012.  

At the Levin College of Urban Affairs, Dr. Simons teaches courses in real estate development, market analysis and finance, public economics, Ph.D. research methods and environmental finance. Dr. Simons has published over 45 articles and book chapters on real estate, urban redevelopment, environmental damages, housing policy and brownfields redevelopment. He authored a book entitled Turning Brownfields into Greenbacks, (published by Urban Land Institute), and When Bad Things Happen to Good Property, (published by Environmental Law Institute in 2006), and was the lead editor for an international research monograph on Indigenous Property and Valuation (2008, ARES). Another Adaptive Reuse book by ULI on New USes for Religious Buildings and Schools is due out in 2010. Dr. Simons has an active consulting practice, and has served as an expert witness in over 50 matters related to real estate, housing markets, and environmental contamination.
 
Honors and Awards:
AWARDS
Fulbright Scholarship, for six months starting July 2005, at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, Faculty of Town Planning

Sabbatical, one year from Cleveland State University, 2003-2004.

Lady Davis Fellowship for teaching and research at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, fall semester 1999.

ARES Manuscript prize for best paper presented at the 1999 annual ARES meeting.(with Chengri Ding and Esmail Baku)

Sabbatical, for two quarters, from Cleveland State University, Levin College of Urban Affairs, Fall 1996 and Winter 1997.

Tenure, at Cleveland State University, Levin College of Urban Affairs, 1996.

Highest Instructor Rating (out of 37 instructors) for Presentation of "Planners in Economic Development: Friend or Foe?" at the Ohio Economic Development Training Course, March 1994.

IREM/ARES Manuscript prize for best paper presented at the 1992 annual ARES meeting on Asset/Property Management.
 
Teaching Areas:
real estate
urban planning
PhD research
 
Professional Affiliations:
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Advisory Board Member, Tiferet Village Project, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, 2007.

American Real Estate Society (ARES) (Distinguished Fellow; member of board of directors; Director of Career Development and Jobs website, since 2004; vice program Chair for 2008-9; (succession to President scheduled for 2011-2012).

American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) since 1983

American Planning Association (APA)

Appraisal Institute, Academic Review Panel, The Appraisal Journal (2001-2005).

Clean Air Conservancy, Cleveland Ohio (Board Member 1997-2003)

Corporate Real Estate Executives Network (CORENET), Northeast Ohio Board Member (2000-2003)

Cleveland Hillel, Board member 2002-2005

Urban Land Institute (ULI), Member, (National) Sustainable Development
Council (2004)
 
Community Service:
COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECTS
Update of the Cleveland Lakefront Plan (class Project spring 2009 underway)

Regional Development Plan for Western Cuyahoga and Eastern Lorain Counties, Ohio (class project) Spring 2008.

Lower Big Creek Recreation Trail, Cleveland, Ohio (class project) for Cleveland Metroparks, Spring 2006.

Regional Government Alternatives for Greater Cleveland, Ohio (class project) Spring 2005.

Burke Lakefront Airport: Comprehensive land use and Alternatives Analysis, For City of Cleveland, Planning Commission (class project) Spring 2003.

EcoVillage Cleveland: Comprehensive Planning and real estate analysis, Ohio City, Cleveland, for EcoCity Cleveland and Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization (class project) Spring 2001.

Housing Market Analysis for the NEC site in Ohio City, Cleveland Ohio, for Cleveland Urban Properties, (Class Project) Summer 2000.

Financial analysis for the commercial and industrial redevelopment in the Fairfax neighborhood, Cleveland, Ohio. Client: Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation. (Class Project) Spring 1997.

Financial Analysis for the Retail Component of Hispanic Village.  Client:  Hispanic Business Association of Greater Cleveland.  (Class Project) Spring 1996.

Market Development Potential for Retail and Local Services for Hispanic Village.  Client:  Hispanic Business Association of Greater Cleveland.  (Class Project) Winter 1996.

Financial Analysis of Low Income Housing Tax Credit Sites in the St. Clair area of Cleveland, Ohio. Client: Enterprise Foundation (Class Project) Spring 1995.

Financial Analysis of Three Infill Housing Sites in the Ohio City Neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio.  Client:  Near West Housing Corp. (Class Project) Spring 1994.

Retail Leakage Analysis and Evaluation of Alternative Retail Development Sites in Garfield Heights.  Client:  City of Garfield Heights, Ohio.  (Class Project) Winter 1994.
 
Research Grants:
Impact analysis of proposed shopping center on residential property values in Solon, Ohio (for Coral Company, through CSU, 2008)

Industrial Property Data Base Enhancement Analysis (through CSU), for Cuyahoga County Department of Development, (2008 underway).

Analysis of fiscal impacts of Lakeview Bluffs Development project in Lake County, Ohio (through CSU Urban Center), for Hemisphere Development Corp (2007, underway).

Strategic Industrial retention Analysis for the City of Bedford Heights, Ohio  (through CSU Urban Center), for City of Bedford Heights (2007).

Analysis of Office and Service relocation for the Geauga County, Ohio Service Complex, (through CSU Urban Center), for Geauga County Commissioners  (2006)

Public Purpose and Blight Analysis for the Flats East Bank Project in Cleveland, Ohio. (through CSU Urban Center), for Cleveland/Cuyahoga County Port Authority (2006, underway)

Analysis of the effect of removing the city employee residency requirement on a City in Ohio, for the Chandra Law Firm, (2006, underway)

Analysis of the effect of removing the city employee residency requirement on the City of Akron, Ohio, for Akron City Law Department, (2006, underway)

Analysis of the effect of removing the city employee residency requirement on the City of Cleveland, Ohio, for Cleveland City Law Department, (2006, underway)

Analysis of Multifamily Housing redevelopment options in Cleveland Inner Ring Suburbs, (through CSU Urban Center) for ULI, Cuyahoga County Development and others, (2006, underway).

Affordable and Middle Class Housing On Johannesburg¿s Mining Sites: A Benefit-Cost Analysis, for iProp, PDNA, and National Nuclear Regulator (South Africa), through Wits University, (2005).

Location analysis of the Cuyahoga County Office Building in Cleveland, OH, for Staubach Company (2005)

Economic and fiscal impacts of Cuyahoga County Airport, Master Plan Update, for C&S Consultants and Cuyahoga County Airport (2005)

Origin and Destination study of 4,000 Downtown Bus Riders, for Greater Cleveland Regional Transportation Authority (Principal Investigator) through CSU (2003)

Retail Market and Tax Base Analysis of the Kamm¿s Corners neighborhood in Cleveland, OH, for Kamm¿s Corners CDC, (2003).

Cleveland State University Master Plan, economic and market components. For
CSU President¿s office, (through CSU), (2002)