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SPECIAL REPORT. PT. 2
Anyone who has hiked or paddled along rivers and creeks
around here has likely seen a blue heron standing silently in
the distance, gracefully gliding off just as soon as you get
close enough for a good look at it. Athens' desire for a "River
District" east of downtown has long seemed equally elusive.
Let's hope Project Blue Heron, the recent Athens Economic
Development Foundation proposal for a mixed-use economic
development zone along the North Oconee riverfront, doesn't
slip away in similar form.
To stretch the metaphor a little further, we've got quite a
few birds in the hand at the moment: notably, a series of real
estate options on private land in the area. Some folks may say
that now isn't the best time for proactively investing in our
local economic engine, hoping for the birds in the bush that
a one-day recovered economy might afford us. How high does
our poverty rate have to get before it becomes prudent for
local officials, elected or appointed, to gain a sense of urgency
about the serious sorts of investments in this community
that are necessary to create jobs?
Last week we talked about the mechanism of land
leases in the downtown area as an economic incentive to
draw in new businesses. The proposal calls for $41 mil
lion for land acquisition, infrastructure investments
and loan funds to provide the economic incentives we're
talking about to companies interested in locating in
Athens. It may feel like just another scattershot idea, but
the reality is that what this money can do is tie together
a series of other investments the community has made
over the last 25 years. It's also a relatively small sum in
the world of major infrastructure investments.
To put this into context a bit, consider that the whole
SPLOST package approved this November was $195 mil
lion. A look at the four most recent SPLOSTs shows that
we've invested around $170 million in projects that
are downtown- and Greenway-related, but that were ulti
mately isolated solutions. Remember, we've had no up-to-
date Downtown Master Plan for decades.
One of the biggest outlays over that period has been
the Classic Center, which received around $43 million for
upgrades, additions and expansions to its initial facility over
that period. Even the Center's original proposal for SPLOST
2011 was far north of Project Blue Heron's $41 million mark,
weighing in at $53 million before being trimmed down after
being left out of the SPLOST citizens committee's recom
mendations and slid back onto the list at the last minute at
a scaled down size of $23 million. That $170 million series of
investments is already an important one that has benefited
the community greatly, but the ability of Project Blue Heron
to increase the value and return on that investment by knit
ting all the parts together into a job-creating whole is
compelling.
How have other nearby cities created cohesive business
districts? There are a variety of models out there. Places
like Greenville, SC have succeeded with a diversified effort,
reinforced by a strong city planning agency, an economic
development department focused on its downtown, and a vari
ety of public-private partnerships.
Chattanooga's model for the last 25 years has been to use
the nonprofit River City Company as the leader of its efforts.
That organization was originally capitalized with $12 million
from foundations and private institutions. Suppose a set of
local banks and institutions did something similar here? Are
there 10 local lenders willing to bet four million bucks apiece
in low-interest loans on Athens' economy getting better with
a project like this?
Beltline, Inc. in Atlanta is one of the latest iterations
of public-private development strategies, funded by a Tax
Allocation District anticipated to generate Sl.3-1.7 billion in
revenue to fund bonds. TADs capture the property tax revenue
increases that result from public infrastructure investments.
Those increases are used to pay down bonds used to make
the initial infrastructure investment. At the end of the TAD'S
life—in the case of the Beltline, after 25 years—that property
tax revenue increase begins going to local governments and
school districts, ultimately increasing what they take in more
than if the investment had never happened.
According to the Georgia Municipal Association, more
than 30 communities across the state are already using TADs.
Atlanta has 10 up and running now, contributing to areas like
the Beltline and Atlantic Station. These sorts of civic financial
commitments by the city have also allowed the Beltline to
leverage money from a variety of other sources—state, fed
eral and private. It's no crazy new scheme, but yet another
instance of Athens lagging behind.
While this proposal was initiated by the business com
munity, and while the discussion has so far focused on the
concerted contributions of business and government, they are
only two of the three key constituencies that can build our
economic future. The other one, of course, Is the University
of Georgia. The reality is that everyone wins if we band
togetlrer on initiatives like these. Not only are there direct
benefits from the success of something like the River District
economic development zone, but we also build new positive
working relationships that mend some of the institutionalized
fault lines that run so deeply in Athens.
The university does have a big land bank along the river
already, along with a well-established fundraising network that
extends not only across the state but to alumni across the
nation. We shouldn't view UGA as an open wallet, though, but
instead as an equal partner, because this sort of thing has
just as much to offer them. The Athens downtown experience
contributes quite a bit not only to attracting quality students
and faculty, but also to the gameday ritual that has helped
cast the Athletic Association's budget as the black to the aca
demic sphere's red.
Beyond simply maintaining a lively downtown experience,
there is also the potential of new research jobs benefiting both
Athens and UGA. David Lee, UGA's VP for Research, noted at
the EDPs Dec. 13 board meeting that "the university would
also benefit if we had a robust research [park]."
The university has already explored and even invested in
the notion of a riverfront research district before, with
the Hardin Tract and other properties having been consid
ered as potential sites for a riverfront research park, and the
Complex Carbohydrates Research Center on the banks of the
North Oconee seems to be a tangible endorsement of
the concept that an attractive and unique location is a
worthwhile component of a research and lab building.
UGA needs research entities to locate here if it is to fulfill
its dreams of becoming a top-tier research institute; the
River District mechanism could be a way to do that, too.
Following up on his comments from the EOF meeting,
Lee wrote in an email, "UGA's research enterprise does
not yet have the overall strength or national impact that
I would like to see it have for an emerging regional and
5tate flagship university. One of the missing elements is
a research park (writ broad) that would fully unleash the
commercialization and economic development potential
that is inherent in our research activities." Lee also noted
that he would Uke to see an alternative to the classic
research park model, focusing on mixed uses, includ
ing what he dubbed "graduation spaces" for companies
emerging from the UGA business incubator, "blended with
recreational and entertainment options and ideally living
space options." Those are things that Athens is already
very well equipped to provide, and yet another opportu
nity for a more reciprocal approach to future development.
There's a lot we need to figure out in order to move forward
on this. Frank conversations need to be had about things like
funding options, types of jobs and industries desired, and the
structure for implementing and managing the process. We need
to explore all of those before we even get to the fun parts, like
greenways and street cafes. Those conversations need to hap
pen in toe community, and they need to happen among those
three Joey stakeholder parties: Town, Gown and Business.
If and when we manage to create a common ground for
these three factions to work together, we might even be able
to move on to the other seemingly far-off issues tike water, the
airport and transportation. Regardless, we must first give this
River District proposal a thorough once-over as a community,
and decide what our goals really are.
Kevan Williams athensrising@flagpole.com