Jackson Free Press

After declining slowly for decades, the Highway 80 corridor in south Jackson is poised for a rebirth. The Jackson Redevelopment Authority is looking to have the corridor designated an urban renewal area within the next 60 days, JRA executive director Jason Brookins told the Jackson Free Press Friday. The designation would allow the organization to push economic-development efforts in the area by purchasing blighted property, offering tax exemptions on improvements and issuing bonds.

"An urban renewal area (designation) says that there is some level of blight that keeps a developer from going into a community," he said. "So JRA then has the authority ... to float bonds, to acquire property or to take property by eminent domain. Then when we can clear out a large section and say this is under our control, we bring in a developer and sell them the property and redevelop it."

JRA has already used the designation in the areas surrounding the Metrocenter Mall, Jackson State University and the Jackson Medical Mall. Under state law, the city can also offer seven-year tax exemptions on improvements to property within an urban renewal area, another incentive for private development.

Brookins hopes to incorporate findings from the city's year-long economic study of the Highway 80 corridor into the JRA strategy, specifically its evaluation of zoning and infrastructure in the area. Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. commissioned the study in 2009.

He plans to have a proposal for the designation ready for the city's Planning Board this month, meaning that the City Council could vote on the designation in June. Without an urban renewal area designation, the city could only acquire properties with individual votes by the council. That process would take longer and likely result in higher costs to the city, Brookins said.

"The levels of regulation when a city goes in to buy a parcel of property--and they've got to go present it to the city council--(are) a little heavier," Brookins said. "My board can just move forward on acquiring a property without a lot of the public knowing. Once the public gets wind of it, the property values--well, the cost (for the city) to purchase it--goes up for sure."

As the city ramps up its efforts to revitalize the Highway 80 corridor, the existing businesses in the area are organizing. The Metrocenter Area Coalition, which covers the corridor as well as the area around Metrocenter Mall, is discussing the formation of a Business Improvement District, executive director Nina Holbrook said. Holbrook welcomes the possibility of an urban-renewal designation, but she is also excited by the possibilities of an improvement district.

Unlike urban-renewal areas, Business Improvement Districts are autonomous entities. Perhaps the most familiar example of a BID is Downtown Jackson Partners, which incorporated in 1996. Like all BIDs, Downtown Jackson Partners levies a small tax per square foot on every property owner in the improvement district to fund infrastructure improvements, landscaping, security and programs that benefit the district's businesses.

"You're basically taxing yourself," Holbrook said.

Forming a BID is a major undertaking, however, and Downtown Jackson Partners is the only BID in the state. The state Legislature must approve the formation of any business improvement district, and the district must have contiguous boundaries. Downtown Jackson Partners administers an area of downtown roughly bordered by Jefferson, Court, Mill and George streets.

"We're trying to see how we can work that out, what part we would want to do, how we would go to the Legislature to try to get some help," Holbrook said.

The Central City District of Philadelphia, Pa., provides a model of a business improvement districts' potential. The district formed in 1991 as a response to a declining urban population and ailing downtown infrastructure. Since 1998, the CCD has contributed $42 million in capital improvements to Philadelphia's downtown and used tax breaks on residential developments to spur a resurgence in downtown population.

Other parts of the city have followed suit with BIDs of their own, but with mixed results. In areas with weak commercial sectors, the BID model has proven less effective.

Previous Comments

ID

157796

Comment

Sounds like a good plan - to have Hwy 80 designated an urban renewal area. Our city needs a lot of improvements.

Author

Meredith

Date

2010-05-12T13:47:21-06:00

ID

157797

Comment

Mill Street from Amite north needs an Urban Renewal designation. The North-Midtown area is ripe for development. Just a little nudge is all it needs...

Author

JSL1

Date

2010-05-12T13:57:07-06:00

ID

157804

Comment

There is some sort of project that's scheduled for north Midtown.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2010-05-12T19:01:53-06:00

ID

157809

Comment

Jason is someone I've worked with before and I can speak to his strong leadership abilities and his caring side. I think he'll do wonderful things for the city, and I'm glad to hear about the proposed designation. It takes organizational abilities to pull this kind of thing off, as well as a sensitivity to the needs of the community - both things Jason can bring to the job. Cheers!

Author

Izzy

Date

2010-05-13T08:13:08-06:00

ID

157826

Comment

All of this sounds great. I know Jason, and I have every confidence in his integrity as well as his leadership skills. I have seen "Urban Renewal" first hand in NYC and Cleveland, Ohio. End result in both cases was great business infrastructure, fabulous residential condo's and gentrification leading to the displacement of "working" and "middle" class citizens to... parts unknown. Historically, Urban Renewal has always resulted in tax breaks for the wealthiest interest of our community at the expense of the working and middle classes. Think maybe Jackson can develop a model that doesn't result in this double edged, unintended, yet 100% predictable consequence? Or does it really matter what happens to "the least of these" or does "trickle down" still have dominant sway in our thinking as a logical and moral policy??

Author

FrankMickens

Date

2010-05-13T14:44:10-06:00