Times-Union: Guest column: Exciting developments underway Downtown

Link to article: http://www.jacksonville.com/opinion/20180429/guest-column-exciting-developments-underway-downtown

Downtown Jacksonville is in the process of something many have wanted for decades, real implementation of a plan.

This plan was developed with a cross-section of community leaders from 2012 to 2014 during 43 public meetings and was debated and adopted by the Jacksonville City Council in February 2015.

That would be the activation of the Downtown Investment Authority’s Northbank and Southbank Community Redevelopment Area Plan.

In the Central Business District of Downtown, the DIAis supporting several key projects outlined in the plan. These include the Laura Street Trio and Barnett Building, supporting market rate and affordable housing around the Brooklyn/LaVilla neighborhoods as well as the recent opening of Florida State College at Jacksonville’s culinary institute and restaurant Downtown.

The adaptive reuse of the former Bostwick Building into the Cowford Chophouse is another shining star in the implementation of the plan. The emergence of Bellwether restaurant onto the Downtown restaurant landscape has been positive.

Add college students with Jacksonville University and University of North Florida establishing Downtown campuses, and you can begin to see a new Downtown emerging.

Now, as we turn our sights to the Southbank, we are working closely with the developers of The District project in order to create a public private partnership that also activates a key part of the plan.

Projects such as The District are both catalytic and complicated. That is why in 2014, the DIA set out to define criteria for this site to attain.

The Community Redevelopment Area project was developed in the hopes that a private sector developer would step up to bring Jacksonville something that was well-thought out and creative to transform this site, something community-oriented that combines restaurants, a hotel, office and retail and residential opportunities. The waterfront will provide benefits for all of Jacksonville.

The financial incentive framework that is supported unanimously by the DIA Board does just that. Now it moves on to ultimately seek approval from the Jacksonville City Council.

By using money from the Southbank Community Redevelopment Area combined with a commonly used program whereby the developer is responsible to generate new property taxes to support the project is the right mix of ingredients to move Jacksonville forward while looking out for the taxpayers of Jacksonville.

For those who have questioned why we support this project or why it has taken so long to get here, they should consider some important points. This site, offered by the JEA to prospective bidders at the time, required a laundry list of due diligence items including environmental issues, land use and zoning issues, master plan approvals from the city, marina permitting allowances from city, state and federal government as well as other regulatory approvals.

This is customary for any large mixed-use development transaction and takes a great deal of time to complete prior to closing land acquisition and beginning development.

To achieve the approvals that this developer has achieved in the amount of time they have is a recognition of their expertise and ability to deal with complicated projects that first start with a vision.

For the DIA to step up and participate in a public private partnership is the right thing to do.

Jim Bailey is chairman of the Downtown Investment Authority board.