7:30 I started the day by getting a cup of coffee at Parsley Garden on the northern block of the Fulton Mall. The shop has a new owner. I didn't really have an opportunity to talk with him, because he was a one-man show. Cooking, making coffee drinks and running the register. There were only 4 of us in the shop while I was there, but this guy was slammed with just for people ordering. I left him my card; he's going to need some help figuring a way to make that operation work. Go by and check it out.
8:00 My first meeting was with Kiel Thomas Famellos-Schmidt who has Spacio Designs an architectural and design firm. This relatively new business is in 1724 Broadway, a very cool adaptive re-use of an historic warehouse done by owner/developer Cameron Moors.
Kiel's firm is focusing on urban design. Kiel has already given a great deal to our community by establishing ArcHop which coincides with ArtHop, but focuses on the art of design. He has undertaken projects for homeless housing and also a park at San Pablo and Belmont in the Lowell Neighborhood.
9:30 My weekly one on one meetings with our Downtown and Community Revitalization staff members continued with Jenna Slawinski. Jenna works on our vouchers for the business that participate in the Enterprise Zone. She helps on every event that we have including community meetings and festivals. She is an upbeat person who works hard and boosts morale. The other day one of our co-workers said, "you can feel it when Jenna is out for a day." Jenna is going to be helping with the Mayor's State of Downtown Breakfast which will be held January 26th.
11:00 My one on one with Cynthia Dondero who is our department's Executive Assistant. Cynthia keeps the scheduling going and is another person who is a real morale-booster. Cynthia is going to be gone next week, so we had plenty to go over so that nothing falls through the tracks while she is out. I hope that she has a great Thanksgiving Week, but I get nervous when she is out. I can't quantify in these blogs how much gets done by short phone calls, emails and text messages. It is really the work that gets done between meetings that moves things forward.
For example: Many people in the City have been working on a proposal to waive or defer development fees in the area of downtown covered by the specific plan. This would act as an incentive to invest into the area that the City has decided is our focus area. This combination of private and public investment is what gets the revitalization to spark. The City invests in great rules for development and contributes its fees, while the private sector brings its capital for businesses, housing and activity.
We hope that this proposal will go to the City Council in December and that it will be approved. However there is a little bit of lag time for existing or proposed projects. Should they start now or wait to see if the waiver/deferral passes? Well, it would make sense to wait a few weeks to see if a development could save maybe 5% of its costs. This has a result of slowing down development...the opposite of what we would like to have happen. So, we have administratively said that any developments that have approval can go forward and still benefit if the incentives are passed. So there is no reason to wait. This will allow people to move into the Iron Bird Lofts on December 1st instead of January 1st. Is this a big deal in the overall scheme of things? Not really. But it is an indication to people who invest in our downtown that we can be flexible and that we are trying to turn downtown into the best place to invest. Like always...it is doing the little things right. This happened as a result of many quick emails and meetings over the passed three days. It was finalized at 4:45.
We are also working on an exciting tenant that we are hoping to attract downtown. On Monday morning they will be touring downtown. Just like when you invite friends over to your house, it is a great time to spruce things up a bit. We're making sure that things look extra nice for them when they head down to take a look. I'll report how it goes on my Monday blog.
12:30 I had lunch with a few longtime friends, I usually see them about twice a year. I had been scheduled to have lunch with our new City Controller but he was not feeling well, so we rescheduled.
2:00 Amy Huerta, our Local Business Initiatives Manager, and I met to discuss ways for her division to get the word out about the many fantastic things that they are working on to strengthen the local business community. Communication has been our key issue for a few weeks, as we struggle to figure the best ways to keep people informed and to get the word out to get even more people involved. We also worked on our local business directory, which will make it easy for people to find locally-owned businesses.
4:00 Chuck Leonard from www.centralvalleytalk.com had me on his show, along with the fantastic Patrick Contreras. This locally produced internet show is produced in a studio in Mike Briggs real estate office. Chuck is hilarious. The guy has so much energy and get so much enjoyment from the show it is infectious. I'm not exactly sure when the show will replay; it apparently loops throughout the weekend. The station is getting 50,000 viewers/month, which is pretty amazing. I think about the fact that I am writing a blog, shared through facebook and twitter, talking about an interview I did on a locally-produced internet talk news how. 10 years ago that sentence wouldn't have made sense to anyone.
5:30 I met with Reza Assemi to recap the fee deferral process and to make sure that everything is moving forward. It is...people will start moving into the Iron Bird Lofts on December 1st.
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