How Developers Can Use Public Art to Increase Foot Traffic, Tenant Visibility, and Community Trust
How Developers Can Use Public Art to Increase Foot Traffic, Tenant Visibility, and Community Trust
I’m letting kids “vandalize” my latest City of LA mural.
Not because I’m being cute.
Because I’m testing what most real estate projects miss:
People come back to places they help shape.
For developers, that matters.
A mural is not automatically placemaking. A beautiful wall can still sit there doing nothing for the property. The real question is whether that wall can help drive foot traffic, tenant discovery, community trust, leasing interest, and repeat visits.
That is the work I do through Fill The City.
I help developers, brands, and property owners turn underused walls and public-facing spaces into measurable demand engines.
If your project needs more foot traffic, tenant visibility, or leasing momentum, start here: Map My Space.
Why public art matters for real estate development
Most developers do not have a wall problem.
They have an attention problem.
The building may be well designed. The retail may be leased. The renderings may look strong. But if the street level feels dead, people do not stop.
And if people do not stop, tenants do not get discovered.
That is where strategic public art, placemaking, and experiential activation become valuable.
Not as decoration.
As a reason for people to pause, participate, scan, share, and come back.
In Los Angeles, this matters even more right now. Affordable housing and mixed-use projects are moving quickly, especially with ED1 accelerating approvals for 100% affordable housing proposals. But approval is not the same as adoption. Developers still need trust, visibility, neighborhood connection, and a reason for people to engage with the property once it opens.
A mural is not placemaking unless it changes behavior
A traditional mural gives people something to look at.
A strategic mural gives people something to do.
That difference is everything.
A mural can support:
Foot traffic
Dwell time
Tenant visibility
Retail discovery
Leasing momentum
Community engagement
Event attendance
Email capture
Campaign attribution
The question is not, “Does it look good?”
The question is:
Did people stop?
Did they scan?
Did they click?
Did they visit a tenant?
Did they RSVP?
Did they come back?
That is how public art becomes a performance tool for real estate.
From community mural to measurable demand
For the public, a community mural day looks simple.
Kids painting. Families stopping. Neighbors watching. People asking questions.
For a developer, those are signals.
They show that a space can create participation, trust, attention, and repeat behavior.
That is especially important for:
Affordable housing developments that need community trust
Mixed-use properties that need ground-floor energy
Retail corridors that need more foot traffic
Vacant storefronts that need a reason to be noticed
Blank walls that could become marketing assets
BIDs and districts that need visible public engagement
A blank wall is not just a wall.
It is unused attention.
How QR codes and AR make public art measurable
The next version of public art is not just paint.
It is paint plus participation, technology, and data.
With the right system, a mural can include:
QR codes that drive people to leasing pages, tenant offers, event sign-ups, neighborhood guides, or email capture.
WebAR experiences that bring the mural to life through a mobile browser, without requiring an app download.
Interactive prompts that invite people to participate, unlock content, share the experience, or return for the next activation.
Campaign tracking that shows which wall, location, or offer drove scans, clicks, sign-ups, or inquiries.
Retargeting opportunities where privacy-compliant engagement can support future leasing, retail, or event campaigns.
This is where the wall becomes a measurable marketing layer.
Not just something people see.
Something they interact with.
What developers can track from a mural activation
A traditional mural gives you a photo.
A strategic mural gives you signals.
Depending on the campaign, property owners can track:
QR scans
Unique sessions
Repeat visits
Average engagement time
Tenant offer clicks
Leasing page visits
Event RSVPs
Email sign-ups
Best-performing time of day
Best-performing wall or location
Conversion from scan to action
That gives developers something public art rarely provides:
Proof.
Not “people liked it.”
Proof that the wall drove engagement, tenant visibility, leasing interest, or community participation.
A mural without a system is decoration.
A mural with tracking becomes a demand surface.
Why this matters for affordable housing and mixed-use projects in Los Angeles
Los Angeles does not just need more buildings.
It needs projects that feel connected to the communities around them.
That is especially true for affordable housing, mixed-use developments, and public-facing projects.
Affordable housing developers need trust and community alignment.
Mixed-use developers need active ground floors.
Retail tenants need visibility.
Cities and funders need visible proof of public benefit.
That is where public art can become more than a nice-to-have.
It can become the bridge between a project and the people around it.
The strongest developments are not just built.
They are adopted.
What I’m testing with my City of LA mural
This City of LA social justice mural is a real-world test.
Can participation make people care more about a space?
Can a wall create a reason to stop?
Can public art drive trust, foot traffic, and measurable engagement?
Can community involvement turn a mural into a repeat destination?
That is what I am studying.
Because the future of placemaking is not just making places look better.
It is making places work harder.
For the community.
For tenants.
For property owners.
For the long-term value of the asset.
How Fill The City helps developers create foot traffic
Fill The City helps developers, brands, districts, and property owners turn physical spaces into places people stop, share, and return to.
That can include:
Public art strategy
Mural activations
Community engagement concepts
QR and AR campaign layers
Tenant visibility campaigns
Retail corridor activation
Leasing momentum strategy
Event and launch programming
Performance tracking
The goal is simple:
Turn the space you already have into a reason people show up.
Ready to map this to your property?
If your project needs more foot traffic, tenant visibility, community trust, or leasing momentum, I can map how this works for your site.
This is especially useful for:
Affordable housing
Mixed-use developments
Retail corridors
Blank walls
Underused frontage
New leasing campaigns
Community-facing projects
Public/private developments
Your wall may already be valuable.
It just needs a system.
Map My Space