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Discussion on the 2020-2022 Community Redevelopment Agency strategy in the areas of special events, redevelopment priorities, building local leadership capacity and performance measures.
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SUMMARY:
The purpose of this discussion is to provide staff direction in areas that present a change in policy direction from previous CRA activities in preparation for the adoption of a 2020-2022 implementation strategy. At the May 2020 meeting, CRA trustees confirmed that they would like to have three strategy focus areas of Creating and Sharing Positive Stories, Increasing Investor Confidence and Placemaking that contribute to the overall goal of changing the perception of downtown to align with the adopted vision. The previous discussion also outlined the external forces that would impact CRA activities over the next two years including the impact of COVID 19 on special events, construction of Imagine Clearwater and Streetscape Phase III and the ending of the federal Opportunity Zone investment period in December 2021. Since May, there has also been significant cultural and political movement towards addressing systemic racism by calling on institutions to examine their leadership and funding priorities.
1. Redevelopment Priorities
The downtown redevelopment plan vision describes a live/work/play community. The CRA has an opportunity to implement this vision through the redevelopment of city/CRA owned properties and incentivizing partners to provide those uses. Over the next two years staff recommends focusing on the live and play aspects of plan. CRA properties and grants funds should prioritize:
- Construction of rental housing units
- Activation of vacant spaces for cultural and entertainment uses
- Retaining current restaurant and retail uses
- Retaining current office uses
2. Local Leadership Capacity
Downtown revitalization requires numerous for profit and not for profit organizations and individual leaders who champion different parts of the vision to bring it to life in partnership with the CRA. Currently there is limited organizational and leadership capacity in downtown. A small number of volunteers serve downtown organizations with overlapping missions and small operating budgets. These factors limit the overall ability of the community to implement new ideas and create significant, lasting change in the downtown environment.
Over the next two years staff recommends establishing programs that build capacity by:
- Providing funding to strengthen organizational capacity to assist with downtown redevelopment
- Supporting new voices to be champions for downtown through training, ideas contests and cohort programs
- Adopting an explicit focus on community building and connecting neighborhoods to downtown
3. Special Events
Special events are a critical component of downtown revitalization. Events are an expression of a community’s values and ultimately their identity. They are experiences that set cities apart from suburbs and strip commercial developments. Vibrant downtowns have a mixture of small and large events on a regular basis that provide a balance between serving residents and visitors as well as a variety of interests. In the past, most events in downtown have been centered around live music concerts which has limited the types of people who come downtown. With the Dreams of Dali exhibition, the Craft Beer Festival and Holiday Extravaganza events, we have started to attract residents who had never before visited downtown.
Building on the success of new event offerings, given the construction timeline for Imagine Clearwater and the ongoing impacts of COVID 19, staff recommends the following approach for special events:
- Partner with community organizations to solicit different event ideas that can comply with social distancing or mix in person and virtual elements
- Continue to develop virtual programming that is accessible to audiences 24/7 via the internet
- Secure large visual art installations that promote downtown’s brand and serve as a destination throughout the year
- Leverage the Cleveland Street closure (whether temporary or permanent) to provide series of smaller, ongoing events
- Cease funding for large, live music events (Blast Friday) and consider new ways to deliver live music experiences
4. Performance Measures
How might we define success? Outputs, like event attendance, are relatively easy to capture. Capturing a change in perception, beyond personal antidotes, is more challenging but that is what we need to know. Staff recommends exploring techniques like sentiment analysis to better understand how CRA activities are changing the perception of downtown by investors and residents.
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