$100 Million to FSU but . . . what about UNF ? ? ?

[RattlerGator]

Kudos to President John Thrasher for securing a phenomenal $100 million philanthropic gift for Florida State University. FSU plans to use it as a key component in their plan to add life to downtown Tallahassee:

http://jacksonville.com/news/florida/2015-12-18/story/florida-state-university-receives-100-million-donation

The money will be used to establish in downtown Tallahassee the Jim Moran School of Entrepreneurship, an expansion of an institute on the main campus named for Moran.

* * * * *

Thrasher, who called the gift "transformational," said FSU is in the process of finalizing a contract for space downtown and the location of the Moran School of Entrepreneurship will be announced later.

Great news for FSU, but there's this:

The Jim Moran Foundation, founded in 2000, has to date invested more than $60 million in initiatives in "education, elder care, family strengthening and youth transitional living initiatives," according to the organization, which says its efforts are focused on Broward, Palm Beach and Duval counties.

What, pray tell, has UNF done to court these folks with a stated purpose to invest in Duval County? While I'm pleased this donation will benefit my adopted town, that type of a donation, one enabling FSU to establish a SERIOUS downtown presence in Tallahassee, could be far more transformational in a place like Jacksonville.

Why can't UNF secure something like this for downtown Jacksonville ? ? ? Even if it means partnering with FSU or UF or whomever, why isn't this far more of a focus at UNF ? ? ?

[tufsu1]

the article's comparison of FSU's downtown expansion to those of USF and UCF is really poor.  Each of those schools are 10+ miles from their city's downtown.  Meanwhile, FSU's campus pretty much borders downtown Tallahassee.  In fact, there is a plan to build a new business school near the Tucker Center (the basketball arena), and I would not be at all surprised that the Moran School becomes part of that complex.  For those that don't know, the arena is 2 blocks off campus and the FSU Law School sits just across the street from it.

[Tacachale]

It's hard to compare donations to the big football-having schools to the "directional" universities. $100 million would be nearly the total amount of our biggest multi-year fundraising drives, and this is just one family in one year. That said, we do very well with fundraising for our size.

As for Downtown, like TUFSU1 says, Downtown Tallahassee really isn't far from the main campus. There are probably parts of the main campus that are as far from each other as Downtown is from the main campus. The campus is also essentially "landlocked" and has no more growth opportunity. Barring some unforeseen development, UNF isn't going to add another downtown element besides MOCA Jax anytime soon. The focus now is building up the main campus. I think it'll happen one day, but we're not going to do anything that detracts from the main campus right now.

[spuwho]

I would assume Thrasher developed a relationship with the foundation during his political career in NE Florida.

[CityLife]

A few things related to this.

-FSU has had the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship since 1995. I believe the Moran family has donated close to $10 million to FSU prior to this.

-This has been in the works for a long time, prior to John Thrasher's tenure at President, though he deserves a lot of credit for sealing the deal and executing everything.

-There is also another large donation being worked on by FSU for naming rights to the business school. I believe in the $30-$50 million range. Along with that, there are a couple billionaire and several multi-millionaire alums that are also poised to make large donations in the coming years. As TUFSU said, FSU is moving its business school near its arena, which is next to the law school and between downtown and campus. There will be a lot synergy between the schools of entrepreneurship, business, and law. Not to mention the energy in the Gaines Street Corridor.

Tallahassee has made significant capital investments in the Gaines Street Corridor and at Cascades Park (near its downtown). While FSU has made significant redevelopment efforts of its own, with the creation of College Town and plans to create an "arena district" (See link below). Its no surprise to see major donors like this respond, along with the significant amount of private investment that has been occurring.

https://tuckercenter.fsu.edu/

[RattlerGator]

Tacachale, that's a very disappointing response but I hear ya, I hear ya. I am curious, however: has UNF ever *sought* a donation from the Moran Foundation and has UNF ever *received* a donation from them -- do you have any idea

[Tacachale]

Tacachale, that's a very disappointing response but I hear ya, I hear ya. I am curious, however: has UNF ever *sought* a donation from the Moran Foundation and has UNF ever *received* a donation from them -- do you have any idea

I don't know about that foundation specifically but the Moran family and their businesses have given to UNF. I know they created an endowed scholarship in Coggin College of Business.

[RattlerGator]

Thanks. They're paying that $100 million donation out over the course of 20 years. You sound like UNF is dead-set against trying to do something major in downtown Jacksonville which is sheer stupidity from my vantage point. If that foundation is willing to invest that kind of money in Leon County -- which (unlike Duval) isn't a primary county for the foundation -- maybe UNF should be pushing for a similar donation here for a location downtown.

You know . . . demonstrate some entrepreneurial thinking from our local public university? Maybe Mark Dawkins needs to help the Coggin College of Business do a 180 degree turn? To hell with a minor in Entrepreneurship when perhaps you could aspire to develop an entire School of Entrepreneurship in an urban setting that allows you to naturally build on your [1] international business and [2] logistics flagship programs. One thing is for certain: a penny-ante approach will never get you major money.

Just a thought. #SwoopCity

[thelakelander]

The purpose of the foundation doesn't sound like it's for downtown development.  Even if UNF got that kind of money, it's probably more likely it would be invested in the main campus instead of DT Jax.

[Tacachale]

I imagine that downtown development is at most a secondary goal for FSU behind beefing up this School of Entrepreneurship. FSU's traditional main campus is more or less built out with no further growth opportunities, so it makes sense for them to expand elsewhere. Downtown Tallahassee is only about a mile away. As tufsu1 said before, this is different even than the other big schools like UCF and USF that have established downtown satellites. For those schools, the downtown branches are one of several satellite units across their region, that allow them to reach (and draw tuition from) a wider range. I don't see UNF going down that path, at least not for a long time. The vision here is to continue building up our main campus and programs. It's easy to forget, but the majority of campus is less than 10 years old.

[thelakelander]

Comparing the distance in smaller places like Tally with those in major cities is difficult to do. Downtown Tallahassee seemed like a two or three block walk from FSU's law school, from what I recall. That law school was a pretty short distance away from the main campus too. Even from the main campus, the few blocks between were filled with frat houses and apartments.  Heck, you might as well say, FSU's campus is pretty much downtown. It's closer to downtown Tally than FSCJ is to the Landing.

[mbwright]

I agree.  The west end of campus is not really down town, but the east side really is only a few blocks off of Monroe.

[RattlerGator]

You know, for a board with such a huge dedication to the urban core it's genuinely amazing how singular the comments are on this subject not just for a foundation that has contributed money for our central performing arts facility (that was downtown development, was it not?) but also has Duval County as a primary focus. Something Leon County is not.

And maybe y'all aren't up to speed on FSU's "Madison Mile" concept but, yes: they've made it a major priority to create an entertainment and lifestyle district that runs from their football stadium east to the edge of the Capitol. Their massive new College of Business going up next to the Civic Center and this new School of Entrepreneurship probably locating in the same area are huge parts of this economic development strategy driven by FSU, along with their "College Town" district next to the stadium.

UNF ignoring this aspect of its civic responsibility is reminiscent of some Duval County folks saying (in the days before UNF) that J.U. and U.F., along with FJC, satisfied the higher education needs of Northeast Florida. That was absurd then and, to me, UNF's lack of presence downtown today is also absurd.

[fieldafm]

UNF ignoring this aspect of its civic responsibility

I think this statement drives to the crux of the issue. Investing in downtown Jacksonville needs to happen because the climate is attractive for investment.

Downtowns (and neighborhoods in general) don't work when a few people are shamed into directing money towards a certain location due to 'civic duty'. Having some rich person write a few checks doesn't magically fix things.

College Town, btw, is a private development project (not funded by FSU). The rejuvenation along the Gaines Street corridor was driven largely by the City of Tallahassee creating the necessary infrastructure, the FSU Alumni Association (that's all private money, which completed two capital issues-both of which have been profitable to investors) and other private investment groups investing money into an area where there was a really attractive investment opportunity given the level of support from many levels of govt agencies, millions in public infrastructure investment and proximity to a large university and large employment base (not to mention the historically significant shift in money flowing towards multifamily developments). It took about 15 years to get to where Gaines Street is today, and many.... many people and layers came together to make it happen. Personally, Gaines is a pretty great model to compare with Park Street in Jacksonville's Brooklyn neighborhood. The parallels as to why Gaines has worked while Brooklyn hasn't attained the same level of redevelopment over pretty much the exact same timeline are pretty distinct.

[thelakelander]

Hmm, Park Street verses the Gaines Street corridor?  This would be a very interesting comparison of compatible corridors.