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Monday, January 6, 2014
Facts and Opinions Regarding the CMP and the CRA
The further the City moves from the referendum on the Community Maritime Park, the more people forget why the park was developed and what was promised to the Citizens. They also tend to forget who is responsible for backing out on their commitments that the CITY relied on in moving forward.
As new leaders step into roles, it is important that history not be revised and the remaining promises made are kept. I want to share the following regarding the CMP and what the City approved.
Facts and Opinions Regarding CMP
The park itself was NEVER meant to cover its debt service. The CRA bond issue was to be repaid by recurring CRA revenues and the increased CRA revenues that the Park would create in downtown growth.
The park was never meant to be a massive high rise complex of condos and apartments only to have a few upstairs units over shops similar to on Palafox.
The City does not have a pool of current businesses that could afford the high cost office space that towers would provide without causing vacancies in current downtown office spaces.
If the high rises are residential, Pensacola history has shown that promises of 24 hour access to non-residents evaporates as the development progresses. PORT ROYAL IS A PRIME EXAMPLE.
Developments in the downtown core were the means to new CRA revenues. Quint Studer's recent PNJ purchase and redevelopment concept is exactly that type of investment.
Building heights just across Main Street are not limited to 60ft, meaning the ECUA property is the prime location for a mixed use high rise development that uses the CMP as a catalyst.
Quint Studer has met every commitment he made to the City regarding the CMP and more.
UWF and specifically, Dr. Bense are the primary parties that reneged on their commitment to the Park (Maritime Museum and Conference Center)
Bense has gotten a free pass on reneging on the University's commitment from the press and the Downtown Elite who promoted the Park.
The CMPA board was way too large for the purpose and in its desire to be inclusive got mired down in management by committee that resulted in delays and missteps.
The Master Developer fiasco and the corresponding lawsuit held up any mixed use prospects for YEARS.
All of these factors were magnified by the recession.
ECUA had a buyer for the ECUA property who was willing to pay over $7 million in cash for the property. But Downtown elites insisted he detail all of his plans before he would BE ALLOWED to purchase the property. He left. Now the property will sit vacant for more years.
The City has failed terribly in attracting paying events to the CMP and its Amphitheatre.
Since the Mayor paid for Charlie Daniels to play at the Amphitheater, no major act has played there.
All of the not-for-profit groups that came at the encouragement of the CMPA to lobby the CRA/Council for the EXTRA $500,000 needed to finish the "back of house" for the amphitheater have mysteriously disappeared and also reneged on their expressed "intent" to use the amphitheater after the CMPA wasted that money.
The City could encourage the use of the CMP by merely making the permit fees at the CMP low and making permits for other City parks such as Seville Square PROHIBITIVE or off limits, HOWEVER
Events at the CMP are problematic due to lack of access to shelter in case of bad weather, lack of shade for hot summer events and the long distance Citizens with mobility issues have in transiting from available parking, even from the currently available surface parking to the waterfront.
Fixing many of these issues would require additional money but no funds remain.
Meanwhile our Mayor has continually marketed the Commendencia/Pitts Slip area for hotels, conference centers and mixed use at the expense of the CMP.
If you would like to challenge any of the above, please post a comment and I will document my comment with support and provide further insight.
Posted by Maren DeWeese at 8:04 AM
2 comments:
Anonymous said...
agree with most of these...however, the problematic parking is not really as problematic as the perception of it and the drama people like to make of it. parking is better and more accessable than Seville. the arts festival and many others have quality events that attract visitors despite the lack of convenient parking. They make it work. Having on site parking adequate for large events would turn CMP into a parking valley - death valley like the civic center parking when an event is not going on. but it is a learning curve to figure that out for CMP - for event organizers and patrons. if convenient parking is key to success of an event then no event downtown in the past should have been successful. Shade is a different issue, but i suspect there are cities all over the country that have beloved and successful events in open parks. we are spoiled (thankfully) by the beautiful tree canopy of seville and can't seem to see the possiblilites outside the seville "box." Lord knows, Pensacola doesn't like thinking outside the box or learning new tricks.
January 6, 2014 at 8:41 AM
CJ Lewis said...
For the project to work, it still needs the 976 space multi-level parking garage. That is an integral part of the plan. To find out more about "parking" search for "Community Maritime Park Design Criteria Pattern Book." A link will pop up. The document is posted to that page. The specific parking page in the Design Criteria Pattern Book is B-6 but the most graphic representation of the critical role of parking in the project as intended and approved by voters can be seen in the graphic on page A-1. If I had been in charge of the project, I would have built the parking garage first telling the Studers that they could build their own stadium, pay property taxes on it and operate it at their own profit or loss. In consideration, I would have relieved them of the requirement to build an office building. Shockingly, the CMPA and City Council do not use the Design Criteria Pattern Book as a guide. Most of them do not even know the document exists. Even more sadly, most do not care.
January 6, 2014 at 10:10 AM
Facts and Opinions Regarding the CMP and the CRA
The further the City moves from the referendum on the Community Maritime Park, the more people forget why the park was developed and what was promised to the Citizens. They also tend to forget who is responsible for backing out on their commitments that the CITY relied on in moving forward.
As new leaders step into roles, it is important that history not be revised and the remaining promises made are kept. I want to share the following regarding the CMP and what the City approved.
Facts and Opinions Regarding CMP
The park itself was NEVER meant to cover its debt service. The CRA bond issue was to be repaid by recurring CRA revenues and the increased CRA revenues that the Park would create in downtown growth.
The park was never meant to be a massive high rise complex of condos and apartments only to have a few upstairs units over shops similar to on Palafox.
The City does not have a pool of current businesses that could afford the high cost office space that towers would provide without causing vacancies in current downtown office spaces.
If the high rises are residential, Pensacola history has shown that promises of 24 hour access to non-residents evaporates as the development progresses. PORT ROYAL IS A PRIME EXAMPLE.
Developments in the downtown core were the means to new CRA revenues. Quint Studer's recent PNJ purchase and redevelopment concept is exactly that type of investment.
Building heights just across Main Street are not limited to 60ft, meaning the ECUA property is the prime location for a mixed use high rise development that uses the CMP as a catalyst.
Quint Studer has met every commitment he made to the City regarding the CMP and more.
UWF and specifically, Dr. Bense are the primary parties that reneged on their commitment to the Park (Maritime Museum and Conference Center)
Bense has gotten a free pass on reneging on the University's commitment from the press and the Downtown Elite who promoted the Park.
The CMPA board was way too large for the purpose and in its desire to be inclusive got mired down in management by committee that resulted in delays and missteps.
The Master Developer fiasco and the corresponding lawsuit held up any mixed use prospects for YEARS.
All of these factors were magnified by the recession.
ECUA had a buyer for the ECUA property who was willing to pay over $7 million in cash for the property. But Downtown elites insisted he detail all of his plans before he would BE ALLOWED to purchase the property. He left. Now the property will sit vacant for more years.
The City has failed terribly in attracting paying events to the CMP and its Amphitheatre.
Since the Mayor paid for Charlie Daniels to play at the Amphitheater, no major act has played there.
All of the not-for-profit groups that came at the encouragement of the CMPA to lobby the CRA/Council for the EXTRA $500,000 needed to finish the "back of house" for the amphitheater have mysteriously disappeared and also reneged on their expressed "intent" to use the amphitheater after the CMPA wasted that money.
The City could encourage the use of the CMP by merely making the permit fees at the CMP low and making permits for other City parks such as Seville Square PROHIBITIVE or off limits, HOWEVER
Events at the CMP are problematic due to lack of access to shelter in case of bad weather, lack of shade for hot summer events and the long distance Citizens with mobility issues have in transiting from available parking, even from the currently available surface parking to the waterfront.
Fixing many of these issues would require additional money but no funds remain.
Meanwhile our Mayor has continually marketed the Commendencia/Pitts Slip area for hotels, conference centers and mixed use at the expense of the CMP.
If you would like to challenge any of the above, please post a comment and I will document my comment with support and provide further insight.
Posted by Maren DeWeese at 8:04 AM
2 comments:
Anonymous said...
agree with most of these...however, the problematic parking is not really as problematic as the perception of it and the drama people like to make of it. parking is better and more accessable than Seville. the arts festival and many others have quality events that attract visitors despite the lack of convenient parking. They make it work. Having on site parking adequate for large events would turn CMP into a parking valley - death valley like the civic center parking when an event is not going on. but it is a learning curve to figure that out for CMP - for event organizers and patrons. if convenient parking is key to success of an event then no event downtown in the past should have been successful. Shade is a different issue, but i suspect there are cities all over the country that have beloved and successful events in open parks. we are spoiled (thankfully) by the beautiful tree canopy of seville and can't seem to see the possiblilites outside the seville "box." Lord knows, Pensacola doesn't like thinking outside the box or learning new tricks.
January 6, 2014 at 8:41 AM
CJ Lewis said...
For the project to work, it still needs the 976 space multi-level parking garage. That is an integral part of the plan. To find out more about "parking" search for "Community Maritime Park Design Criteria Pattern Book." A link will pop up. The document is posted to that page. The specific parking page in the Design Criteria Pattern Book is B-6 but the most graphic representation of the critical role of parking in the project as intended and approved by voters can be seen in the graphic on page A-1. If I had been in charge of the project, I would have built the parking garage first telling the Studers that they could build their own stadium, pay property taxes on it and operate it at their own profit or loss. In consideration, I would have relieved them of the requirement to build an office building. Shockingly, the CMPA and City Council do not use the Design Criteria Pattern Book as a guide. Most of them do not even know the document exists. Even more sadly, most do not care.
January 6, 2014 at 10:10 AM