by Glenn Tschimpke
Staff Writer
A proposed $52.3 million bond initiative promises to add to the recent surge of downtown revitalization efforts. The initiative, introduced by the mayor’s office, is expected to come before City Council Tuesday for a first reading and would inject several million dollars into core city.
The newly-found money was made possible by refinancing an existing bond from 1991, according to Sam Mousa, Mayor John Delaney’s chief administrator.
“We got a better interest rate,” he said. “As interest rates help us, we can borrow more money.”
The far-reaching bond would both plant the seeds for future government expansion downtown and help lure private businesses to invest in the core city.
“It’s going to be a good bond issue,” said City Council president Matt Carlucci. “It’s going to tie up a lot of loose ends. It’s not going to be anything real sexy.”
What it will do is piggy back on Carlucci’s efforts at downtown revitalization — the focus of his Council presidency over the last year.
As part of his Task Force for Downtown Preservation and Revitalization, Carlucci helped spearhead the development of the Historic Preservation Trust Fund. While not formally established yet, the trust fund will provide supplemental funding to private developers renovating older historic buildings, either through grants or loans. Until recently, Carlucci could only identify $5,000 from a special Council reserve account. The bond dedicates an additional $7 million.
The trust fund is intended to provide an incentive for developers to come downtown who would otherwise shy away because of the cost involved with renovating older buildings. While the final details are still being determined, look for trust fund money to be available for exterior facade work, interior work and other construction necessary to bring older buildings in compliance with building codes.
The bond also provides the legs for a larger government footprint downtown. Two items are guaranteed to affect the core city.
The first would set aside $2 million for the purchase of the Haverty/YMCA building, which is adjacent to City Hall. The building would be used for government purposes at some point. Additional funding would be acquired later for renovation.
The second would set aside $5.6 million for a “downtown landbank,” which Mousa said would be used for additional government expansion in the future such as purchasing land or buildings.
The bond dovetails Carlucci’s efforts to bring vitality and life to downtown. He admits Jacksonville’s core may never rival other traditional Southern cities.
“I would not kid anybody by saying that we can cultivate the history of Savannah or Charleston . . . but if there is a city in the state of Florida that can capture some of the Savannah or Charleston charm next to the St. Johns River, it’s Jacksonville,” he told the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission Thursday during its monthly meeting. He followed by justifying his efforts. “Block for block, there is not an area of town that contributes to our tax base more than the downtown core.”
Other bond projects, which may or may not affect downtown, are $5.3 million for a new Courts Document Processing Facility, $2.2 million for a Plans/Permits Review and Processing Facility and $8.5 million for a new Jacksonville Children’s Commission Facility. Other metropolitan projects round out the bond, including $10.2 million to renovate one fire station and replace six others. Six-and-a-half million dollars is also earmarked to begin development on three Preservation Project parks: Castaway Island Preserve, Ribault River addition and the Camp Milton Historic Preserve.
Although the bond will be introduced Tuesday, it will be referred to several Council committees for study. At a minimum, it would take about a month before the full Council would have an opportunity to vote on it.