In 1999, the City created the Downtown Business Improvement District and imposed a non-ad-valorem special assessment on private properties within a zone, including portions of the Northbank and Southbank.
In addition, the City agreed to voluntarily contribute funds in lieu of the assessment on municipal buildings within the zone and also contracted with Downtown Vision Inc. to provide an enhanced level of services within the district funded by the assessment revenue.
The original term of the contract with DVI was five years, after which it was renewed for seven years and was set to expire Sept. 30.
City Council on Tuesday enacted Ordinance 2012-422, which again renewed the agreement for seven years through fiscal 2018-19.
The projected contribution from the private property owners in the first year of the new agreement is $686,000, with the City contributing $229,747 based on property value and $81,913 for cleaning services to be performed for the City.
DVI’s total 2012-13 budget is $997,660, according to the ordinance.
Terry Lorince has been DVI’s executive director since the not-for-profit corporation began operations.
She said in the past 12 years, Downtown has changed – so has the organization’s mission. Lorince anticipates that will continue into the future.
In a Thursday interview, she cited the increase in nightlife and construction of market-rate housing as major improvements that have helped make Downtown more of a destination.
“When I came to town, if I wanted to go out for drinks with my staff, there was no place to go except the Landing or one of the hotels. Now we have about 26 places. That’s nighttime animation and that brings people Downtown. It’s having another product,” said Lorince.
“We didn’t have any market-rate housing in 2000. Now we have about 2,500 people living Downtown,” she said.
Other statistical changes since 2000 include expansion of the Riverwalk, more office space, more parking spaces and an increase in Downtown visitors.
Looking ahead, Lorince said Downtown’s success will depend on attracting more businesses, residents and visitors. That will require a cooperative effort and the recently created Downtown Investment Authority could be the catalyst, she said.
“DVI is not equipped to do all that. I think the DIA plays a key role. I think a plan with measurable outcomes to achieve certain sets of criteria needs to be developed. If the plan is to reduce office vacancy, what can the DIA and the City institute to do that? If the plan is to activate Downtown, what’s the strategy to do that and how will we measure that? The DIA has to come up with clear measurements of what they are trying to achieve,” she said.
Lorince said she sees DVI’s role as being not the lead agency, but part of the overall plan to improve the neighborhood.
“We just want to be a partner to help in the revitalization of Downtown,” she said.
Lorince said future Downtown development will be based on three priorities: real estate development, retail and leasing and streetscape management.
While the City and JAX Chamber will likely take the lead on the business side of the triad, Lorince describes DVI’s role as being part of the “day-to-day management” of Downtown.
“We’re sort of taking a look at what we need to do now and how we partner with others and how, with our limited funding, we can be effective,” she said.
“Our challenge is to figure out where we can make some substantive changes. I think we really need to think strategically about where we are and what we can impact and how we do that,” Lorince said.
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