Mayor Brown to Invest $9 Million in Downtown

[Ocklawaha]

Amazing, they have had total and complete control over this dead downtown issue for years, whilst being in possession of of information about America's number one cure. 

S T R E E T C A R   N O W   J A C K S O N V I L L E !

[Cheshire Cat]

Somehow I don't think this is on their radar Bob, but you can bet certain projects are.  Now would be a good time for the TU to put some of their reporters to work and give us more than an announcement story from the mayor.  Let's find out who is already standing in line for some funding and how they propose to spend it.

[tufsu1]

here...I'll help you...Latitude 30 (the old library) and Laura St Trio...and perhaps a little property known as the Bostwick Building

[Tacachale]

^Good start.

[Cheshire Cat]

Those are ideas that have been discussed on this board and in other venue's before.     The question right now is what does the DIA envision happening with this money and who is influencing those decisions?   I am sure some would love to see members of this board do some imagining about it and downtown's future, but what is needed is a good plan of investment and my question is, how can folks with opinions and ideas have any real input into what happens in the planning stages if they are not privy to the inner circles?  Laura Street has had other plans fail before and if we are talking Bostwick again one would have to ask, once restored what would the building be used for?  Retail, business etc.  The old library was purchased with great plans speculated for a downtown grocery etc and it all fell through.  What is the plan that will work for downtown and who gets to decide what that is?  If it is only the "money players" and "politically connected" we can expect some decisions to be made entirely upon how they will impact certain investments and most of those are private investments.  What investments will give downtown the greatest chance at success while making good financial sense to the citizens at large and how those investments impact their downtown experience?

[sheclown]

Those are ideas that have been discussed on this board and in other venue's before.     The question right now is what does the DIA envision happening with this money and who is influencing those decisions?   I am sure some would love to see members of this board do some imagining about it and downtown's future, but what is needed is a good plan of investment and my question is, how can folks with opinions and ideas have any real input into what happens in the planning stages if they are not privy to the inner circles?  Laura Street has had other plans fail before and if we are talking Bostwick again one would have to ask, once restored what would the building be used for?  Retail, business etc. 

agreed.

[Redbaron616]

I always cringe when I read that government is "investing money." Government doesn't invest anything; they spend money. Call it what it is. 

[JeffreyS]

I guess technically every investment is spending money. The city should be looking for ROI so in that sense it is investing.

[buckethead]

Mayor Brown to Invest $9 Million in Downtown

Does he have that kind of money to invest?

[Cheshire Cat]

I guess technically every investment is spending money. The city should be looking for ROI so in that sense it is investing.

They should indeed.  Very rarely however is the City's return on investment that great.  That is another story.  Look at how well the deal worked out for John Rood and Vestcore in their downtown building renovation!  Good for them, but how did it all work out for the city and downtown?  The promises of investors did not flesh out in the end when it came to stimulating activity and interest in downtown.  What was it called again, the Carlisle?

[thelakelander]

The Carling has something like 100 units.  100 units won't even support a 7-11. You'll need to incentivize thousands of new units if the goal is to truly stimulate economic activity in the Northbank or invest in mass transit to tie downtown with the rest of the existing urban core residential population base. 

I'd probably argue that if we're concerned about ROI, we'll need to implement a more aggressive incentive strategy than we've done in the past.  That probably means something as dramatic as a 10 year tax abatement program for everyone moving to or investing in a targeted area as opposed to going on a project by project basis.

[Cheshire Cat]

I believe we should be concerned about ROI.  I don't know if a lengthy tax abatement program would be the answer or not, but I think serious thought should be given to our investments at all levels.  I am not saying do not invest by any stretch of the imagination but am rather interested that what we do invest in is well thought and that the overall benefit to the city i.e. the citizens and taxpayers be worthwhile.  We have dumped millions and millions into ideas that were short sighted and non starters.  If we really want change, that change needs to come at all levels and through good planning and foresight.  In the past our investments in private endeavors have been horribly monitored.  I have researched more than my share over the years.  It is time for oversight that is meaningful when it comes to how we fund public and private investments in our city. 

[Tacachale]

I'd argue there needs to be less "monitoring" and red tape and more effective incentives to get the many people who want to invest downtown to act on it. The only problem with the Carling is that there aren't 10 or 20 more of them. However, that would likely be much more than $9 million dollars.

[stephendare]

I always cringe when I read that government is "investing money." Government doesn't invest anything; they spend money. Call it what it is. 

this sounds dumb.

[thelakelander]

I believe we should be concerned about ROI.

I definitely think we should be primarily concerned about ROI.  I think if we did, I think a ton of our existing policies would change.  Reading the FTU responses on the story points out to me how blind we've become as a community. 

There, the majority are upset that $9 million is targeted for downtown instead of being spread to the rest of the community.  However, where was the uproar when Sleiman convinced council to waive mobility fees last year or when FDOT's Prasad waltzed in here determined to waste tax dollars funding the +$300 million Outer Beltway to from Blanding to I-10 on a chunk of roadway we already paid for? 

Because of our policies, we'll never end up on the positive when it comes to ROI on an investment like that.  Same goes for the billions invested in 9A, JTB, isolated overpasses spread out all over town.  I sat in a meeting yesterday where a guy mentioned all the infrastructure to SJTC was privately funded.  Maybe Town Center Parkway but none of that happens without the decades and billions of taxpayer dollars invested in the Southside Blvds, JTBs, 9A's, Kernans, etc.

It appears most Jaxson's find it appealing to speed on roadway infrastructure completely overbuilt for a city our size (do we really need a 9B?), despite the fact that the burden on the taxpayer is something that will eventually bankrupt us.

Btw, Cheshire Cat, it's the New Year.  I need to take you out for a cup of coffee.