As August came to a close, Mayor Alvin Brown and City Council President Bill Bishop named nine members (including myself) to the long-awaited Downtown Investment Authority (DIA), a new organization that will be counted on to bring investments, stability and growth to downtown Jacksonville.
All of this comes on the heels of EverBank moving 1,600 employees to downtown from the suburbs—an important sign that while downtown has issues, it is also brimming with big opportunities.
Downtown is far from dead. And, that is a great thing.
By getting the DIA up and running, the city now has a huge sign hanging downtown that says “open for business,” telling developers, investors and entrepreneurs who are looking for a great city in which to spend their capital and unleash their creativity that we’re ready to go.
As Realtors and builders who mostly live and work in neighborhoods and communities outside of downtown, perhaps you question why there is so much emphasis placed on having a strong and vibrant core in Jacksonville.
Why is it important to you?
Across America and around the world, downtowns symbolize the strength, character and livability of cities. Downtowns are the faces we show to the world.
Think about Denver.
Think about Detroit.
Think about Charlotte, and then think about Cleveland.
Where do you want to visit? Where had you rather live? Where would you prefer to sell real estate?
Decision makers who move their companies choose cities with strong downtowns because they know they are moving to a place where its people are proud and its leadership is aggressive about being successful.
Investments in downtown create jobs and produce tax revenues that help pay for the services that all of us use—no matter where we live in Jacksonville.
Unlike a major shopping center or residential complex that is owned by a single developer, downtown is owned by all of us.
We’ve invested hundreds of millions of dollars over many years in infrastructure for roads, water and sewer facilities, and we’ve built public buildings such EverBank Field, the Veterans Memorial Arena, the Florida Times-Union Performing Arts Center and the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
People come downtown to work each day by the thousands and thousands more come at night and on weekends to be entertained.
Downtown is the center of Jacksonville’s cultural, business and transportation universe. We’ve got a lot going for us; let me give you an example.
When Mark Nusbaum, the new president of The Florida Times-Union, moved to Jacksonville, I wanted to meet him and welcome him to town.
During our first meeting, Mark said something I liked and it made me think.
Mark said the first time he drove across one of our downtown bridges and over the St. Johns River he was blown away by the beauty of downtown and its skyline.
Right then and there, Mark made a decision and announced to family members that Jacksonville was where he wanted to live forever.
Sometimes, we forget how others view our city. Usually, they can quickly see Jacksonville’s beauty and recognize our vast potential to become great. Most often that is because of downtown.
But even with all of our positives, we need to continually improve. We have to build on public/private partnerships and grow capital and develop more human investment.
Downtown has empty buildings that must be filled or removed.
We have events like Art Walk that bring downtown streets alive, but we need more events that will introduce more people to downtown.
Before the economic bubble burst, the city had development plans to bring 10,000 residential units to downtown. Once our economy fully recovers, downtown will attract new residents, especially if gasoline prices continue to rise, and if we build on downtown’s livability.
The good news is that there are lots of people and different organizations thinking about how to make downtown better for all of us. The DIA is our newest opportunity.
— Jim Bailey is publisher of Realty/Builder Connection and president of Bailey Publishing & Communications Inc. He can be reached at [email protected].