About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 2019)
Page 2, September 30, 2019, The Islander AGE 2 NewCity Brunswick focuses on downtown Brunswick By Pamela Permar-Shierling NewCity Brunswick is a brand new 501c3 organization with the idea of helping investors bring a residential renaissance to downtown Brunswick. Currently operating under the aus pices and encouragement from the Communities of Coastal Georgia Foun dation, NewCity already has received donations amounting to 15% of its three year operating goal according to Justin Callaway, President of NewCity Brunswick. Callaway, 37, worked over a decade with GenSpring Family Offices, a divi sion of SunTrust Bank Private Wealth. He rose to the position of vice president and investment strategist. Callaway also, alongside his wife Sarah, owns Sandy Bottom Bagels on St. Simons Island. NewCity Brunswick is privately funded, Callaway said, which will give them greater flexibility. “We believe focusing on residential in downtown and bringing people back to downtown Brunswick will bring business back to downtown,” Callaway said. “We will offer a revolving load fund for residential and other business de velopers with an initial focus on resi dential developers,” he continued. ‘We will provide creative funding to help transform downtown. We are not looking to be project specific,” he continued, “but we want to help people with varying amounts of money to in vest put together a project.” Callaway said NewCity would help by providing a mentor program for in vestors as well as help with a business plan and a financial plan for a project. “Our funding would be more gap or bridge funding,” he said. We plan to work with banks and help investors with historic tax credits,” he said. “These would be market driven projects,” he continued. We want in put from the local NPAs (Neighbor hood Planning Assembly) to see what type of residential they want in their neighborhoods.” NewCity will also partner with other agencies focused on community development. The pillars of NewCity, Calla way said, are Action (create a revolv ing loan program); Ambassadorship (partner with other agencies such as Downtown Development Authority, Brunswick Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce, Golden Isles Convention and Visitors Bureau) and recruit new business by telling Brunswick’s story; McGinty-Gordon Associates Connecting clients to confidence PERSONAL & COMMERCIAL INSURANCE ♦ LIFE & HEALTH INSURANCE • EMPLOYEE BENEFITS * RISK MANAGEMENT LET US HELP YOU PROTECT YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET—YOUR FAMILY! Brighter and more secure futures come with protecting those parts of our lives we hold most dear To learn more about our future-minded solutions for all your insurance needs, please contact us at 912.638.8600 or www.mgassLcom Justin Callaway, President NewCity Brunswick Advocacy (how can NewCity bring one voice to all the groups, be the facilitator and to advocate at the state level for lo cal needs). Over the summer, the Communi ties of Coastal Georgia Foundation led discussions with business, community and local govermnent leaders to build on efforts to improve downtown’s econ omy and quality of life. The conversations gained momen tum after the two installments of the Distinguished Speakers series cospon sored by the foundation and the Col lege of Coastal Georgia. The first included Atlanta Belt Line founder Ryan Gravel and the second featured Martin O’Hara, a British ex pert on rehabilitation port cities. The third installment, featuring a panel of local leaders was held last week. The continuing discussions have included a cross section of community, business leaders and local government officials and have identified housing downtown as a key element in strengthening Brunswick’s economic vitality. “Through discussions among stakeholders, it became clear that if we focus on at tracting residents, businesses will follow,” Paul White, presi dent and CEO of the Coastal Georgia Foundation, said. This view was solidified after a May trip by the stake holders to Macon, which has enjoyed a renaissance in its central city. After visiting Ma con, the Brunswick group com missioned a residential market study of downtown Brunswick, the results of which are expected tills fall. To further the conversation about Brunswick, the Sept. 24 meeting launched Forward Brunswick, an in clusive, broad-based alliance of the city’s stakeholders. The meeting was held last week. Forward Brunswick is intended to foster continued communication and collaboration, White said. Back to NewCity Brunswick: they want to facilitate the market; acceler ate the pace of progress; be a catalyst for the transformation of Brunswick; and offer an avenue and tool for inves tors to proceed with whatever project they might have in mind. ;Auditions! An odd-ball cast of has-been actors try to revive their careers in "Drop Dead!," a potboiler murder mystery set in a play within a play! Come to the Casino Theatre on October 13-15, 7:00-9:00 pm and try-out. Directed by Gregory Santoro, you'll have the time of your life performing in this hilarious comedy! We need 7 men and 3 women. V THE 11 LAM PL AVERT Casino Theatre 530 Beachview Dr., SSI www.theislandplayers.com 912-638-0338
