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The area known as “Downtown Gainesville” constitutes the City’s downtown business district and several neighborhoods in the immediate surrounding environs. Extending from the historic City center at University Avenue and Main Street, the “downtown” is effectively defined by North 8th Avenue, the Waldo Road/ Williston Road corridors, Depot Avenue and West 6th Street.
When the City of Gainesville was initially established in the mid-19th century, the downtown featured a central marketplace that was situated around the courthouse, a town square and the railroad. By the turn of the 20th century, Gainesville was a regional hub of business and agricultural trade.
Unfortunately, the downtown began to decline as the primary marketplace shortly after the end of World War II. As the city’s population increased, this growth was accommodated by new residential subdivisions that were developed west and northwest of the University of Florida. Shopping centers followed this westward shift, diminishing business activity in the once vital commercial downtown. As with many towns and cities across the country, the post war suburban migration drained the vitality of the traditional central place.
Interest surfaced in redeveloping the downtown in the early 1960s. This initiative culminated in 1981, whereby Resolution R-81-32 of the City Commission designated a 171-acre portion of the City as the Downtown Redevelopment Area. The 1981 Finding of Necessity for the Downtown area indicated a number of “blighting” factors, including pedestrian and automobile circulation conflicts; deteriorating and inadequate underground utility lines; an increased crime rate; the extensive diversity of parcel ownership and the deteriorated condition of many residential and nonresidential buildings.
In 1999 the City Commission voted to expand the existing downtown CRA to integrate adjacent neighborhoods into the downtown and to address broader issues that would impact the area’s progress in redevelopment. In accordance with Section 163.361, Florida Statutes, the City requested a modified finding of necessity in order to expand the original CRA boundary to include lands to the south and east. The consulting firm of Ivey, Harris & Walls (IH&W) was thus commissioned to assess the downtown area in terms of the continued need for redevelopment, to update the original data from the 1981 blight study, and to incorporate data for the proposed expansion area. The analysis indicated that “blighted” conditions continued to exist in the greater downtown area, inclusive of the proposed expansion area, and was adopted by the Gainesville City Council in February 2001.
IH&W was subsequently authorized to prepare the statutorily required Redevelopment Plan for the expanded Downtown Redevelopment Area. In general, this document serves to update the previous findings and initiatives of the original Downtown Plan, and to augment the planning strategies to include the expanded, primarily residential areas to the SE and SW of the Central Business District.
Download Area Plan (PDF)
| Approved by the CRA 3/16/09 |
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| Revenues |
$1,395,690 |
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| Minus: Payroll & Operating Expenses |
$250,395 |
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| Minus: Total Debt Service & Development Agreements |
$232,184 |
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| Project Funding |
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CRA Maintenance |
- |
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Sidewalk Powerwashing contract |
$22,000 |
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Landscape/Maintenance |
$26,916 |
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Afterhours Maintenance |
$20,000 |
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CRA Office Building |
$133,000 |
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Lynch Park |
$32,000 |
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SW 3rd Street Improvements |
$316,000 |
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Depot Avenue |
$105,000 |
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6th Street Rail Trail |
$25,000 |
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Depot Building Rehab |
$167,000 |
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GRU Site Mater Plan |
$26,195 |
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Acquisitions & Options |
$30,000 |
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Professional Consulting |
$10,000 |
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Total, Projects |
$913,111 |
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