ocybakenos.wordpress.com
Currently, projects totaling $300 million are under with another $150 million worthu of construction in thepipeline -- and the type of buildingf going on is diverse in nature. "Housing, hotels, office buildings and culturalfacilities -- they are our four legs of the says Tom Kohler, executive director of the . "Fof the first time in two we have a balanced portfolioof investment." Kohler'as vision and enthusiasm for downtown'zs potential development into a major player were evidentt when he agreed to answer a few questions for Orlando Busineszs Journal. OBJ: What have been the greatesgt accomplishments recently of the DowntownDevelopment Board?
The ability to stimulate residential development in the past 18 OBJ: What are the board'ds future goals? Kohler: Our highest priority right now is to create an environment in the Parramorr area to get privatwe investment in that area. Most investment to date has been publi cin nature. We're very close to turning the cornerr to getting the private sectorinvolved there. OBJ: What is the boards doing to attract newbusinesa downtown? Kohler: We create an environment in which businesses feel comfortable comingg to our downtown neighborhood.
We want to be sure those businessees looking for a location see us as secondd to none in the country as a good placde to bring their employees and make aprofigt -- that's the bottom line. OBJ: What typezs of incentives areyou offering? Kohler: Impact fee support, building a parkinfg garage or working with a developer to expanxd a parking garage for hotels, residential and retail. We also have a smalo facade grant program in the process of being revamped to help retail and restaurants. It's a matchint grant program. We haven't done a very good job of marketing it.
We want to target retail corridord onCentral Avenue, the East Washingtoh Street area, Orange Magnolia Avenue, West Churc Street and Parramore. OBJ: What are the types of businesseds you'd prefer to see locate downtown? Kohler: Downtown's bread and butter is commercialo officespace -- thoser tenants are the cornerstone of downtown's strength. In the near we want to generate more qualithretail business. We don't have much Just a few stores. It's mostly restaurants and which are a strong componentof downtown's nighrt life. But retail is pretty much nonexistenty downtown.
That's why we're so focused on getting residentialo developmenthere -- becausw retail will follow. OBJ: Some say there isn'tr enough available office space downtown. Wouldx you agree? Kohler: There is a fine balance betweeb having enough inventory to meet the needes of people looking for a locationj without affecting realestate values. I' d say 97 percent occupancy is a nota negative. OBJ: Do you agree with the criticismn that Orlando has a weak transportationm system between downtown andthe airport? Kohler: Yes. That is a real weaknesx on our part. We're one of the few majod cities inthe U.S. without direct acces to the airport.
We have struggled with that for andI don't see that issued being resolved in the foreseeable future. OBJ: What aboutt congestion downtown?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment