4 Years of Brown: Taking DT Jax to the next level!

[thelakelander]

I'd be more curious to know what Orlando and Tampa got done in that time period and have under construction now, along with the out of state peers you mentioned.

not sure that would make you any happier.  There are many construction cranes in both cities.  Meanwhile our cranes are primarily on I-95.  Moreover, Tampa's economy is roaring again and their downtown is becoming more active every day. 

What's going on in Orlando right now is pretty insane. For example, Parramore, as we know it today, won't exist in another 10 years.

[CCMjax]

I'd be more curious to know what Orlando and Tampa got done in that time period and have under construction now, along with the out of state peers you mentioned.

not sure that would make you any happier.  There are many construction cranes in both cities.  Meanwhile our cranes are primarily on I-95.  Moreover, Tampa's economy is roaring again and their downtown is becoming more active every day. 

What's going on in Orlando right now is pretty insane. For example, Parramore, as we know it today, won't exist in another 10 years.

I would suggest to anyone who hasn't been in the last few years to go to downtown Orlando and surrounding neighborhoods and observe what Jacksonville could be and should be.  Good mix of everything including what seems like a perfect balance of new vs old Florida.  It doesn't feel too crowded, cosmopolitan or pretentious.  You can tell a lot of stuff has been fixed up in the last decade or so.  I did not grow up in Florida, so someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the impression that downtown Orlando used to be similar to what Jax is now, lots of potential but just waiting wake up.  Orlando still has a horrible sprawl problem though just like Tampa and Jax but at least a lot of people live in the core.

I would love for Jax to fill in more in and around the core but not become too cosmopolitan and lose that old south meets old Florida feel it has in places like Riverside, Springfield and San Marco.  I think Orlando is a good example to follow although Jax has it's own identity and a beautiful river to work with.

[thelakelander]

DT Orlando was significantly smaller than DT Jax and pretty dead in the late 80s.  Much of the stuff you see now, has been built over the last 15-20 years. One thing it has that DT Jax does not is a pretty successful CRA. It generates millions for them and those millions are continuously reinvested in making DT Orlando better.

[Tacachale]

I've been critical of Brown's job as mayor, but as CEO he has responsibility for what goes on under his purview, and that means he deserves credit for positive outcomes along with the blame for negative ones.

Disagree with that notion. There are a lot of developments that happen due to factors in the free market, not as a result of government assistance. For instance, I'm the development director for a municipality outside of Jax. The past year, the valuation of development is up 115% from the prior year, and 2 years ago it was up 55% from the prior year...and we were already seeing a lot of growth prior to this growth spurt. The spike in development is mostly due to external factors and market demand, not anything I or my city have done.  There are certainly many instances of cities stimulating growth through public improvements and incentives, but I'm not sure Brown really did much in this area in his tenure.

Brooklyn is happening due to market demand, proximity to 5 Points/large employers, infrastructure improvements from past administrations, REV Grants which were created by past administrations, relatively affordable real estate, and major investments from local developers. The city should not be applauded for getting them off the ground. It should be expected.

Taca, what would you list as DIA's major accomplishments in the past 2 years? Hemming Park is a start, but even the genesis of that was from local advocates...What are their other accomplishments?

I was mainly trying to be positive.

As I said, I was quite Critical of Brown's performance. The Brooklyn projects did take city incentives under Brown (tax rebates if I recall) and despite some hiccups they're coming right along. Yes, projects like that should be expected, but the fact is that things have been very slow since the Recession.

As for DIA, I think they've done some good work on the small things, like issuing grants. They just don't have much of a budget or resources to work with, and they came together too late in the game to measure the real impact.

I applaud your attempted positivity. Cheers. That said, now that a new administration is in place, I hope they are taking a hard look at Brown and the DIA's failures. I have a pretty good story to share with the chair of Curry's Economic Development task force about the DIA's shortcomings in one area...I'll shoot you a PM.

The REV Grants which are the property tax abatement that helped the Brooklyn projects get off the ground were created by the JEDC prior to Brown's tenure. They were used to lure Deutsche Bank back in 2008. They are probably even older than that. They also are approved by City Council.

I'm not an anti-Brown guy by any means. In fact, I held back quite a bit during the election, but now that he's out I think its time to take a critical look at mistakes and missed opportunities.

Sure thing. I'm definitely not the guy to defend Brown. Our biggest problem for years has been an inability to just stop tripping over our own two feet.

[UNFurbanist]

I'd be more curious to know what Orlando and Tampa got done in that time period and have under construction now, along with the out of state peers you mentioned.

not sure that would make you any happier.  There are many construction cranes in both cities.  Meanwhile our cranes are primarily on I-95.  Moreover, Tampa's economy is roaring again and their downtown is becoming more active every day. 

What's going on in Orlando right now is pretty insane. For example, Parramore, as we know it today, won't exist in another 10 years.

I would suggest to anyone who hasn't been in the last few years to go to downtown Orlando and surrounding neighborhoods and observe what Jacksonville could be and should be.  Good mix of everything including what seems like a perfect balance of new vs old Florida.  It doesn't feel too crowded, cosmopolitan or pretentious.  You can tell a lot of stuff has been fixed up in the last decade or so.  I did not grow up in Florida, so someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I get the impression that downtown Orlando used to be similar to what Jax is now, lots of potential but just waiting wake up.  Orlando still has a horrible sprawl problem though just like Tampa and Jax but at least a lot of people live in the core.

I would love for Jax to fill in more in and around the core but not become too cosmopolitan and lose that old south meets old Florida feel it has in places like Riverside, Springfield and San Marco.  I think Orlando is a good example to follow although Jax has it's own identity and a beautiful river to work with.

I've always thought Jax has a mix of three city "types"in the way it feels and behaves. First is the structure and function of central Florida cities like Orlando, Tampa and Lakeland. Second is the abandoned building stock of rust-belt cities like Columbus and Detroit. Third is a history and feel similar (though not quite the same) to southern cities like Savannah, Greenville and Charleston. Jax could learn a lot from all of these places because we kind of have a mixed identity and I think that makes us very unique. Now if only we could actually implement some of the progressive things happening in these places we could really realize some potential.

[BennyKrik]

For as long as I've been reading this blog on topics of  downtown, I couldn't help but notice
Everyone day dreaming about what Jacksonville should've been and could've been yada yada.

The southern baptist church used to be the villain.
Then lack of major employers downtown carried the blame.

just rent out 15 vacant spaces to lgbt venues and I'll go downtown cause it will be interesting for once.
This is not a joke.

[BennyKrik]

Stephen
You've made my day!

[BennyKrik]

Stephen, I'm only offering my arguments and facts like everyone else.

Was the Baptist church a punching bag in recent years when  people here expounded ideas about DT development? Yes

[CityLife]

Want to see a key difference between Downtown Jax and Downtown Orlando? Here are Jacksonville and Orlando's displays at the ICSC Conference in Orlando last August. This is one of the largest commercial real estate conferences/showcases in the southeast, if not the country. There are developers, investors, commercial brokers, and corporate reps from all over looking for projects. It is one of the best opportunities for city agencies to make sales pitches to developers and get them interested in specific projects. Jax had reps from OED and DIA (including Wallace), but they were largely absent from their booth. Their marketing materials were atrocious, laughable really. Much worse than the booth display itself. Orlando, Miami, and other cities had slick brochures, maps, and attractive booths to lure people in. They also had very engaged employees working the booth hard and making sales pitches.

Aundra Wallace had been at the DIA almost a year and had more than enough of a marketing budget to put something together for this conference and other marketing related events. Instead, they were using an old JEDC/OED booth used for random events. If you were a developer, which city would you feel comfortable investing in?

[UNFurbanist]

^wow, that's totally embarrassing.

[fsquid]

That looks like a 2nd grade science fair project in the first picture.

[fsujax]

I cant see the pics, but guess I don't really want to. Jacksonville on the cheap, it's the city's theme.

[ProjectMaximus]

^^Of course!! We are a city that can rest on its laurels. 

[BoldCityRealist]

Want to see a key difference between Downtown Jax and Downtown Orlando? Here are Jacksonville and Orlando's displays at the ICSC Conference in Orlando last August. This is one of the largest commercial real estate conferences/showcases in the southeast, if not the country. There are developers, investors, commercial brokers, and corporate reps from all over looking for projects. It is one of the best opportunities for city agencies to make sales pitches to developers and get them interested in specific projects. Jax had reps from OED and DIA (including Wallace), but they were largely absent from their booth. Their marketing materials were atrocious, laughable really. Much worse than the booth display itself. Orlando, Miami, and other cities had slick brochures, maps, and attractive booths to lure people in. They also had very engaged employees working the booth hard and making sales pitches.

Aundra Wallace had been at the DIA almost a year and had more than enough of a marketing budget to put something together for this conference and other marketing related events. Instead, they were using an old JEDC/OED booth used for random events. If you were a developer, which city would you feel comfortable investing in?

That Orlando booth looks like it was around $100k at least. Possibly more. With Jacksonville's money problems, I could see a reporter having a blast uncovering "wasteful spending" on a $100k booth.

And man, those TU Facebook comments would be awesome. Lots of "taxpayers" mad about "their money" being wasted by "big government".

[thelakelander]

To be fair, downtown Orlando's CRA brings in $20 million in revenue a year. DT Jax's CRA is a third world country in comparison. The old Northbank CRA is underwater.  I doubt one could justify Orlando's ICSC booth set up with the DIA's measly budget.