Staff Writer
Jacksonville Economic Development Commission executive director Ron Barton took on two timely topics last week at Jacksonville Community Council Inc. – Cecil Commerce Center and downtown development.
Barton spoke Thursday to JCCI, a day after the JEDC approved Texas-based Hillwood Company LLC to become the master developer of the Westside commerce center. The deal still must be approved by City Council.
Barton spoke to a “Lunch and Learn” session of JCCI, a nonprofit that promotes civic engagement.
Barton said the Hillwood decision, which is opposed by a vocal group of industrial developers and brokers, wasn’t based on emotion, but rather what was best for Jacksonville. Opponents contend the deal gives Hillwood an advantage over developers already in the market.
“We have a commitment to do something with” Cecil Commerce Center, Barton told the JCCI group. “To make it a job haven. It’s about what works for our future.”
By selling the rights to Hillwood, it shifts the ”heavy lifting” to a private partner instead of having the City tackle the roadblocks, such as wetlands mitigation, he said.
He said he understood the stress of the deal’s critics as they fight for market share and value, but he said the deal as a whole will have long-term impact.
While some have criticized the deal as negatively affecting the market, Barton countered that holding out for a potential better deal would have taken years.
“I guarantee this is the only deal like this we’re going to get for a long time,” he said.
The contract obliges Hillwood to build on the land, including the wetlands that need costly infill, instead of leaving it undeveloped. He said that the deal includes annual benchmarks the company must reach, which he said provided a safeguard to ensure the deal will benefit the area.
Barton also believes Hillwood, a Ross Perot company, markets Jacksonville as a premier brand when it comes to luring potential businesses to the area.
“This is the type of partner we need,” he said.
Barton also talked about the Laura Street renovations Downtown and the overall impact on the city’s economic development.
“People ask ‘What’s Downtown have to do with economic development?’,” said Barton. “For business recruiting, it’s important.”
Barton said businesses are not going to locate someplace where there isn’t investment in improvements. Even in a recession, he said, it’s important to maintain public spaces such as Metropolitan Park and the Southbank and Friendship Park.
The Northbank Laura Street improvements are a key component to improving access for people downtown, he said, referring to it as “the spine of the city.”
“The big deal is we hope it encourages you to get out on the street,” he said. “It’s just a first, and it’s the details that count.”
In the past, money was spread among Downtown projects as a whole, but with the area being so large, nothing appeared improved.
“The consensus was we still didn’t have the Downtown we wanted,” he said. “It was just a bunch of buildings.”
Barton’s comments came about two weeks after Downtown Vision Inc. released its “Turning the Corner: Rethinking and Remaking Downtown” report. The report focuses on eight principles to guide development, including reversing an “appalling” job loss and creating a “walkable core.”
He also said that turning one-way streets into two-way corridors, including Laura Street, is paramount to the revitalization. Barton called one-way streets a hindrance to downtowns across the country by impeding people’s access to their destinations.
He said a focus on the central Downtown corridor will lead to improvements in the surrounding area that will then spread, and re-establish Downtown’s identity to residents and outside business interests alike.
“Downtown is a neighborhood,” he said. “We just don’t always think of it that way.”
JCCI Executive Director Skip Cramer called the timing of Barton’s topics “impeccable.”
He said Barton did an outstanding job explaining “topics that are pretty complicated, while keeping the eye on long-range goals.”
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