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Jacksonville City Council forms new committee to help pick up the pace of downtown development

The committee will look into the work of the Downtown Investment Authority to see if it needs any tweaks.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville’s downtown development has become a hot topic for city leaders as they continue to try to grow the downtown area.

The Jacksonville City Council formed a special committee to talk about the Downtown Investment Authority’s role in bringing life to downtown.

“Hopefully everyone wants a very viable downtown, with riverfront parks, development in Downtown," said Jacksonville City Council President Ron Salem. "All the infrastructure is already down here.”

Salem says community members and those in the development business who’ve reached out with the same concern…

What’s going with Downtown Jacksonville?

“Clearly, we went through COVID. We’ve got high interest rates," said Salem. "I’m sure that plays a part into Downtown development, but are there other reasons Jacksonville is falling behind other comparable cities?”

Salem’s approach to that question was to form a committee charged with evaluating how effective Jacksonville’s Downtown Investment Authority has been since it was formed 12 years ago.

Stephen Atkins, the developer behind projects like the Barnett Building and Laura Street Trio says he plans to share his perspective with the committee.

“We are desperately in need of some additional investment from both inside and outside Jacksonville in our downtown…We are concerned, but very hopefully that the council will make good choices in how downtown can continue to thrive," Atkins said in a statement.

The Downtown Investment Authority said in a statement it welcomes the council’s input:

"DIA looks forward to this opportunity to discuss the progress and challenges facing Downtown, ways to accelerate revitalization and structures for success. The DIA Board and staff remain committed to the Master Plan adopted by City Council and achieving its goals in a financially responsible way. We welcome the Council’s input on the process improvements that can be made and appreciate the Council’s continued focus on Downtown."

Salem says what the committee finds could lead to a range of outcomes, but the ultimate goal, is to breathe some life into Downtown.

“It could be a while different approach to developing downtown, it could be tweaks to DIA," said Salem. "It could be almost anything. I don’t want to put any restrictions on what they come up with.”

Salem says there isn’t a date just yet for when this new committee will get started.

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