by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Representatives from the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission met Tuesday with City Council member Jim Overton and several others to unveil a preliminary brochure designed to help market the dozens of historical buildings in downtown Jacksonville.
By early May, the comprehensive informational brochure should be available to everyone from brokers to developers to the general public. Building on a request made at a similar meeting last month, the brochure will be geared more towards brokers and developers. It will include a description of the four types of historical designations a building can receive as well as the types of incentives available to potential developers.
“This is a very rough outline, a first draft,” said Jean Moyer, chief of communications at the JEDC. “It’s not perfect and I expect there will be a lot of changes.”
The brochure comes at the urging of Overton, who is the former chair of the Downtown Revitalization Task Force, which gave way to the Implementation Task Force chaired by Council member Elaine Brown. Although it will probably undergo several changes, the brochure will be distributed to commercial real estate brokers and developers around the First Coast and eventually all over the country.
“In addition to brokers, we think the general public public and entrepreneurs will be interested,” said Al Battle, managing director of the Downtown Development Authority. “We don’t have it now, but this could be a good way to give people a summary of downtown historical buildings.”
In a move designed to get useful input from the commercial brokerage industry, Oliver Barakat of CB Richard Ellis is serving as an unpaid consultant. Barakat said it’s imperative that the final product be eye-catching, informative and something brokers will hold on to.
“The goal is to at least get the curiosity up,” said Barakat. “What will intrigue the broker or investor is the ability to make money. The goal is for the broker to make the phone call. The broker’s responsibility is to make the initial call and do the homework. The key is the first call.”
In brief, the brochure describes the four types of local historical designation, the Secretary of the Interior’s standards for rehabilitation and the various local property tax exemptions available to developers. Officials stressed that not every building in the downtown area is subject to every tax exemption, but many qualify for more than one.
The brochure will also include a detailed map showing every downtown building that has been labeled historical. Right now, a survey is being done to determine exactly which buildings qualify. That survey is due by the end of April and the brochure should be available shortly thereafter. Overton asked that the brochure be very clear that not every building on the map is available for purchase or rehabilitation.
The lone intangible factor is the cost of the brochure. JEDC officials commissioned an outside marketing firm to create the original brochure, which could run upwards of $10,000 for 10,000 copies if it’s outsourced. Overton said he could find the money, but urged JEDC officials to look at internal resources before outsourcing the project. If the brochure is produced by an outside firm and costs more than $8,000, City laws dictate the project go to bid, a process that could easily delay production of the brochure by several weeks.
“We are heading in the right direction and we’ve got to get this off the ground,” said Overton. “This will appeal to people interested in renovating historical property in downtown Jacksonville. They are out there.”