JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Mayor Alvin Brown is working to breathe new life into downtown Jacksonville.
Brown's pushing forward with a new initiative to bring people and dollars downtown. He wants to form a Downtown Community Empowerment Corporation.
Don Shea is the Executive Director of the Jacksonville Civic Council. Mayor Brown tapped him to help make downtown vibrant. "We need to make Downtown Jacksonville more competitive," said Shea.
Taxpayers have already put 1.2 billion dollars in to downtown over the last 10 years. Shea says they want to capitalize on what's already there, and get more companies to move in. "We're putting together an incentive program for businesses to come back or expand," said Shea.
A plan to build a new hotel, residential homes and more restaurants is already in the works. It's called the Laura Street Trio. "Laura street is the heart of downtown," said Shea.
One more big change we could see, is less one way streets. Mayor Brown's transition team has suggested, going back to two way streets.
The Laura Street Trio is a 75 million dollar project, but only five million is from public investment. That is still waiting to get final approval with the city.
