Downtown Investment Authority Selects CEO

[Metro Jacksonville]

Downtown Investment Authority Selects CEO



The Downtown Investment Authority (DIA) announced today the selection of its first CEO.  Aundra C. Wallace of Detroit will lead the DIAââ,¬â,,¢s efforts to build a more vibrant and competitive city, with a focus on Jacksonvilleââ,¬â,,¢s urban core.

Full Article
http://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2013-jun-downtown-investment-authority-selects-ceo

[simms3]

Disappointed.  I'm skeptical of anyone that comes out of Detroit.

[thelakelander]

After sitting in the room and witnessing the presentations from the two finalist, I'm not.  I found the responses from the finalist with Atlanta, Philadelphia and New Orleans experience very concerning.  Outside of management and understanding HUD financing, he came off has not being strong in understanding the actual concepts that make an urban environment successful.  For example, he completely whiffed on question about the importance of a street environment to urban vibrancy.  His response was along the lines of, "well compared to New Orleans, your streets are great.  They are smooth, New Orleans has a lot of potholes."  In response to the sidewalks, he said he'd need time to walk them.

He also touted Atlantic Station a lot but in reality, during his time, the ADA basically created a TAD (tax allocation district) for the property that eventually became Atlantic Station.  You can create all the TIF districts you want in urban Jax.  That won't get you an Atlantic Station.

[simms3]

^^^This is all true.  And imo there is nothing to tout about AS.  It's had its fair share of ups and downs and is not embraced by most in Atlanta.  It's only a financial success for CBREI now that it's basis is so low and it has a responsible and fully vested operating partner.

Knowing how corrupt Detroit is across all forms of the public sector and even in the private sector, and knowing how locally corrupt Jax is (though it doesn't make national headlines), I hope that there is no fishy business that happens here.

[Wacca Pilatka]

Lake, what were your impressions of the WV fellow who dropped out?  I like downtown Charleston.

[thelakelander]

I was high on the WV guy.  I personally saw Lakeland and Hollywood change under his leadership. I still believe his experience for what downtown needs is more than the other three finalist combined.  He didn't have the "big city" experience but no one can deny he hasn't had direct hands on success with the little things, where ever he had been.

However, after attending today's meeting, I don't believe most on the DIA board were looking for one who could get the little things right.  More questions and comments centered around big city development financing opportunities and management.  From that viewpoint, someone from a city like Atlanta, Philadelphia, Detroit, New Orleans, etc. is going to rank higher, despite probably not having the actual hands on experience in regards to downtown revitalization.  To me, it was clear, Hanna didn't know much about the little things to making a downtown environment a successful one.  What I heard today, was pretty much the same sentiment my urban advocacy contact in Philly told me about a month or two ago. He sounds like a decent finalist for inner city land banking and HUD financing.  However, this position should focus on DT revitalization, which for Philly, was the focus of the administration before Hanna came in.

Hey Ennis,

I don't know too much about Mr. Hanna but I can tell you what I know about NTI.

The program was intended to demolish thousands of derelict and abandoned properties across the city, mainly in impoverished neighborhoods. The aim, of course, was good but slightly shortsighted and not properly executed. A large number of cleared parcels remain vacant to this day even though the program was initiated in 2000. NTI was the baby of former mayor John Street who built his reputation upon being 'the neighborhood mayor' as opposed to his predecessor Ed Rendell who channeled much of his efforts towards revitalizing Center City and environs. Street's program, when announced, was hailed as the magic bullet to bring the kind of success to Philadelphia's tumbled down and far-flung neighborhoods that downtown had been enjoying at the time. However a number of practical issues had either been overlooked or not fully considered by his administration starting with marketing. While blocks of abandoned houses are a deterrent to developers having those blocks located in low-income areas far from any possible synergy with gentrifying or economically stable areas is an even larger one. Additionally, the lion's share of NTI's budget went to land clearing and acquisition and not to any sort of management of the collection of properties in order to make them more than just fallow land.

Where Kevin Hanna fits into that is that he was Mayor Street's personal choice to run the operation. In my bit of research I'm not coming across anything bad about him or untoward about his association with Mayor Street but it does seem that he was a bit of a victim of local politics. Street had a defined set of local politicians and power brokers who were allies and who were enemies. After Street's terms as mayor ended current mayor Michael Nutter, no ally of Street during his time in City Council, essentially put NTI on ice in order to reorganize the program into something that more proactively dealt with the parcels that it had cleared - a process that has led to the idea of forming a land bank.

To answer your question, it seems that Kevin Hanna has no major strikes against him in terms of heading Jacksonville's Downtown Investment Authority. I'm unaware of the particulars - economic and political - entailed in executing the duties of that post but they can't be considerably harder and certainly have to be less frustrating than navigating Philadelphia's political waters.

As secretary of housing for Philadelphia he would have had little if any impact on anything in Center City as there's virtually no public housing there although in adjacent neighborhoods there are several Philadelphia Housing Authority projects that were conceived or built on his watch that are nothing short of outstanding (the mixed-income MLK/Hawthorne development is a notable example). If he does get the position I would think you could look forward to good things.

Peace,

Hi, I hope all is well.  I have a quick question that you may be able to answer or provide some insight into.  Kevin Hanna, Philly's Secretary of Housing and Neighborhood Preservation from 2002-2008 is one of the finalist for Jacksonville's Downtown Investment Authority's CEO position.  A local paper posted his resume and it mentions all the success he had chairing the Neighborhood Transformation Initiative.  However, during a google search, I found a story saying the NTI was a program to demolish thousands of vacant structures to make way for new infill.  What's your take on Hanna and the NTI?  Do you think Hanna would be good for downtown revitalization? Was he involved with anything in Center City? Thanks!

Ennis
Lakelander

On the other hand, Wallace seemed to at least do some homework and provide relieving answers to the questions he was asked. 

[TheCat]

Scorecards:

http://issuu.com/metrojacksonville.com/docs/dia_scorecard

Based on the scores the decision makers today were Barakat, Bishop, Harris and Allegretti. Williams was the only person who favored Hanna. Saylor, Perez and Bailey scored Hanna and Wallace within one point of each other.

Watching the board today it seemed like Bishop, Barakat and Harris were the most involved and motivated. Perez was eager to get out of there as soon as possible and he did.

Hanna was certainly the weaker candidate based on the interview. It was difficult to follow him. He meandered in and out of thoughts and had not researched Jax. Wallace was the opposite. He was to the point and understandable. More importantly, he researched...at least he did enough to make it seem like he had a general understanding of Jax.

It was disconcerting when Saylor started the deliberations by saying something like "I appreciate a man that shoots from the hips. He didn't give us paperwork and was not following notes. Whereas Wallace gave us a packet and was following an outline."



Board Member: Hanna/Wallace

Saylor: 104H/104W: No Decision. Turns out Saylor likes a man who is not prepared. 

Bishop: 81H/105W: The largest spread.

Perez: 100H/99W

Barakat: 94H/103W

Harris: 99H/105W

Williams: 119H/115W

Allegretti: 103H/108W

Total: 797/834

[CityLife]

I just found out some interesting news from the Times Union comments page. Apparently Wallace is the reason for Detroit's downfall. Guess we are doomed....

[thelakelander]

LOL, FTU comments section is a joke.  Detroit was in decline before Wallace was born.  What's currently happening in downtown and Midtown is really impressive, given the condition of the overall municipality and state. We could learn a thing or two from both of the cities Wallace and Hanna are employed in.

[CityLife]

Wait, so you're telling us that Wallace is not responsible for the decline of the American auto industry and shift away from an industrial economy? Haha

I know Detroit is a city you know quite a bit about...looking forward to your perspective of how he can apply his work in Detroit to Jax.

[KenFSU]

Wait, so you're telling us that Wallace is not responsible for the decline of the American auto industry and shift away from an industrial economy?

Don't forget the Pistons losing to the Lakers in the '88 Finals.

Totally Wallace's fault.

[thelakelander]

Urban revitalization in DT Detroit is being bank rolled by hometown billionaire Dan Gilbert.  With that in mind, unless we have an individual willing to open up their personal pocketbook for the good of the public, it's essentially an apples to oranges situation.

Nevertheless, because Detroit is being bankrolled by the private sector and they have so much to overcome, they've been quite innovative in their response to problems associated with urban revitalization.  No doubt, Wallace has been exposed to that process, so perhaps we'll gain some of that institutional knowledge.

For example, Tony Allegretti asked both about their view of transit and TOD in downtown Jacksonville. Hanna responded that he helped create a TIF for what eventually became Lindbergh Station in Atlanta.  He also mentioned that he liked TOD and would want to work with JTA.  However, he never fully explained how his vision would fit specifically into downtown Jacksonville.

On the other hand, Wallace explained it's importance in detail and the need to connect DT with surrounding urban core neighborhoods.  He then used Detroit's proposed M-1 streetcar line as an example of how it will connect DT Detroit to Midtown and the TOD and excitement that was being stimulated by it.  Like Hanna, he'd also like to work with JTA to improve transit connectivity between DT and other areas.

Most of their responses to direct issues went this way.  Hanna pretty much deferred to saying he'd do whatever the board wanted and Wallace expressed an opinion with a realistic situation from his past experience as proof.   Despite Hanna having more big city management experience, Wallace came off as a little more visionary, to the point to where I think he'd easily grasp some planning issues that Hanna would defer or need a learning curb before deciding which way to go in his thinking.

Thus, I think being exposed to the innovative stuff Detroit's private sector has come up with in the last few years, will be a valuable asset that Wallace will bring to Jacksonville.  After all, if they can find solutions to add life into a place like Detroit, Jacksonville should be a cakewalk.......right?

[thelakelander]

Wait, so you're telling us that Wallace is not responsible for the decline of the American auto industry and shift away from an industrial economy? Haha

Yes, Wallace is personally responsible for driving Packard and the Purple Gang out of business!

[Wacca Pilatka]

Thanks, Lake and Cat, for your insights.

And I got a good laugh out of the Wallace/NBA finals reference

[ProjectMaximus]

Throughout this process I always assumed Aundra was a woman. Am I the only one?

Anyway, glad to hear Lake has some faith in the decision. Sounds like we can benefit from a few detroit lessons learned.