Schedule: Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Registration Desk Open
7:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Masters Registration Desk

Bus Tour: City of Holly Hill
(additional fee of $50.00; pre-registration required)
7:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Meet at the Convention Entrance at 7:15 a.m. for boarding.

The tour will begin in the Southside CRA at RiversEdge, a $280 million, 30-acre redevelopment project on the riverfront site of a former electric generating station.  The next stop will be the Sports and Entertainment District in the Northbank CRA (amidst the arriving Florida-Georgia revelers) where $495 million worth of contiguous development projects are underway along the riverfront, including a Four Seasons hotel, office building, riverwalk extension, riverfront park, and museum.  We will also pass by the first multifamily project to locate at the Sports Complex, and a nearby restoration and rehabilitation of a historic warehouse to multifamily.  Then it’s on to City Center where we will visit two of five historic structures (c. 1902-1955) along two city blocks that are in various stages of completion.  The projects, with a combined capital investment of $100 million, include a former Federal Reserve Bank building, a former hotel, former residential-mansion and two former office buildings that are all using financing from incentive programs designed to foster the preservation and revitalization of unoccupied, underutilized and/or deteriorating historic buildings located in downtown.  The next stop will be the LaVilla District, once home to brothers Rosamond and James Weldon Johnson, composers of the hymn Lift Every Voice and Sing.  While in LaVilla, a historic multi-cultural neighborhood (and once a vibrant African American community and music and entertainment scene referred to as the Harlem of the South), the tour will visit Lift Every Voice and Sing Park, the model-mile of the Emerald Trail and Johnson Commons, a 91 unit for-sale townhome project.  The tour will wrap up in the Brooklyn District, stopping briefly at One Riverside (a $164 million riverfront redevelopment project on the former site of Jacksonville’s daily newspaper), and conclude on the Northbank Riverwalk at the recently completed FIS headquarters building adjacent to Gefen Park.

Tour (bus): Coastal Community Tour: Jacksonville Beach
(additional fee of $50.00; pre-registration required)
7:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Meet at the Convention Entrance at 7:15 a.m. for boarding.

Tour participants will experience both CRA districts located in Jacksonville Beach. The tour will start in the Southend District, showcasing the CRA funded South Beach Park and Sunshine Playground. The CRA and the City desired to utilize the space to encourage outdoor activities and a sense of community for residents and visitors. The park provides opportunities for free outdoor exercise along a paved walking path with various outdoor exercise machines, a space for children of all ages and abilities to play on the newly upgraded Sunshine Playground, large turf sports fields, a splash pad for cooling off during hot Florida summers, and a community center located within the Parks and Recreation building that citizens can rent. Recently, the CRA added additional landscaping, pickleball courts, resurfaced basketball courts, and the most recent project is the addition of new sidewalk entryways off of a busy thoroughfare to allow for easier pedestrian access to the park.  The CRA is also adding a passive park to the Southend district. 

The next stop will be the downtown CRA district. This walking tour will offer an overview of the success of both public and private development and projects. We will discuss the history of the district, creation of a special policing unit, current and future projects for the district, including a renovation of a large civic owned plaza located in the center of the downtown district. Staff will provide insight on the processes and steps involved to create a thriving downtown district that has seen an abundance of strategic growth in recent years, and incentive programs and strategies allowing the CRA to aide in private investment within the district.

Tour (bus): Historic District Tour: St. Augustine and Lincolnville
(additional fee of $50.00; pre-registration required)
7:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Meet at the Convention Entrance at 7:15 a.m. for boarding.

Take the bus tour along the beautiful historic bayfront, of Downtown St. Augustine. Ride along the main corridor of the Nation’s Oldest City on San Marco Avenue, where opportunities for mobility, parking and transportation improvements will be identified. The bus will then travel to Lincolnville, a historically African American community founded in 1866 by formerly enslaved people. Here participants will have an opportunity to ride down Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave., one of the only streets in the nation actually visited by its namesake. Learn about the MLK Streetscape Project, the LCRA’s Institutional Rehab projects, and enjoy an opportunity to get off the bus and explore the two largest recreational spaces in the Lincolnville Community – the 25 plus acres of both Eddie Vickers Park and Dr. Robert B. Hayling Freedom Park. As the masterplan is being developed to improve the park spaces, participant will have an opportunity to learn about the proposed elements and explore the current ones. Other focal points of the tour will include new pocket park improvements, future project sites, and historic preservation efforts related to the historically aesthetic features of Lincolnville.

CRA Board Training
(additional fee $50.00; pre-registration required)
8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Heritage BCDE

This is a general educational session designed for CRA staff, elected and appointed officials, volunteers and advisory board members. It provides a succinct overview of what you need to know that you don’t know in the universe of CRAs. Learn some helpful, practical, legal and administrative best practices for CRA policymaking success.

Instructor: Jeff Burton, PhD., FRA-RA, Executive Director, City of Bradenton, CRA

Exhibit Hall Open
11:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Champions ABCDE

Welcome Luncheon in the Exhibit Hall
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Champions ABCDE

Welcome and Keynote Address: The Pedestrian Safety Crisis in America: What it is, what we can do about it and why we haven’t done it already
1:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Masters E

Address of Welcome: Nancy Sikes-Kline, Mayor, City of St. Augustine; Ken Thomas, FRA-RA, President,  Florida Redevelopment Association, Director of Redevelopment, Daytona Beach CRA

Keynote Speaker: Angie Schmitt, founder of 3MPH, Author, and Urban Planner

Angie Schmitt is a Cleveland-based writer and urban planner. She is the author of Right of Way: Race, Class and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America, which was published in 2020 by Island Press and named one of the top urban planning books of 2020. She is the founder of 3MPH Planning and Consulting, which works with leading change makers around the country advancing safer policies and infrastructure. Her writing has appeared in Slate, Vox, The New York Times, CNN Business and other publications. She is a mother of two and hasn’t owned her own car in nearly a decade.  

Refreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall
2:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Champions ABCDE

Keep it Legal People 2.0
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Masters ABC

This engaging presentation, with built-in time for audience participation, is a recap of last years’ session that focused mainly on marketing and events, expanded to include a variety of common CRA activities that may or MAY NOT fall exactly within the statutory guidelines. This session will outline steps to review your projects and programs to ensure you are “connecting the dots.” Attendees will gain valuable insight into the details of the statute and leave with a “CAN DO” list of eligible activities.

Moderator: Brenda Thrower, Ybor City CRA, Tampa Community Redevelopment Agency, City of Tampa

Speakers: Sharon McCormick, Business Attraction & Marketing Director, Redevelopment Management Associates (RMA); Claudia McKenna, CRA Attorney, Pompano Beach CRA

Making Informed Decisions Using Market Data
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Masters D

Making the right decision is always better with the right information. This panel will highlight the perspectives of varied-sized communities and how they have used a mix of data and analytical insight to establish benchmarks and drive decisions and actions within their CRAs. The key takeaways of this panel will be how market trend data and other measurables can help define benchmarks and project potential market demand and feasibility to support successful planning and redevelopment decision-making within your CRA. This information is critical to continue to garner support from elected officials and the community-at-large.

Moderator:  Laura Smith, Urban Analytics Manager, GAI Community Solutions Group

Speakers: Natalie Frazier, Senior Analyst, GAI Community Solutions Group;  Gail Hamilton, CRA Director, City of Zephyrhills;  Lisa Frazier, Growth Management Director, City of Palm Bay;  Kyle Dudgeon, Assistant Division Director, City of Winter Park

Livable Communities Achieving Safe Mobility for Life
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Masters E

AARP Florida and the Florida Department of Transportation will share information and real-world examples on their initiatives and action plans to help communities meet the transportation needs of residents of all ages and abilities. Participants will also be able to provide input on an upcoming training course and learn specific actions and available resources to promote livable communities. Resources include walkability audits, accessing data, and their collaborative educational “Age-Friendly Florida’s Transportation Checklist.” 

Moderator: Renee Jadusingh, Executive Director, Delray Beach CRA

Speaker: Gail M. Holley, Safe Mobility for Life Program & Research Manager, Florida Department of Transportation; Ann-Marie Waterman, Associate State Director of Communications, AARP Florida

Refreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall
3:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Champions ABCDE

Filling the Void: Affordable Housing Partnerships
3:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Masters ABC

Florida has made national news in the past two years for its housing crisis. Due to rising home and rent prices, many residents have experienced difficulties securing safe and affordable housing within Palm Beach County. In response to the local housing crisis and demand for attainable housing, the Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (BBCRA) has focused its efforts on pursuing creative partnerships to fill the void.

Moderator: Veronica Edwards Phillips, Mayor, City of Lauderdale Lakes

Speaker: Thuy Shutt, Executive Director, Boynton Beach CRA

Creative Strategies for Public Art
3:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Masters D

In this session, walk through the steps to create a professional committee to review public art and implement a public art plan in a once blighted and rough downtown district.

Moderator: Sherri Curtis, AICP, FRA-RA, Community Redevelopment Coordinator, Tallahassee CRA

Speakers: Taylor Mobbs, CRA Coordinator, City of  Jacksonville Beach;  Alisa Burleson, FRA-RA, FCP-CPTED, CRA Administrator, City of Fort Walton Beach

Make More Money?  Leverage Your Resources
3:45 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Masters E

The purpose of the session is to create awareness through real-life examples of other financial resources available to CRA practitioners.

Moderator: Miles Ballogg, National Brownfields Practice Leader, EnSafe, Inc.

Speakers: Kyle Dudgeon, Assistant Division Director, Winter Park CRA; Peter Moore, Division Director, Office of Management & Budget, City of Winter Park

Welcome Reception in the Exhibit Hall
5:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Coquina DE

New Member Welcome
6:30 p.m.- 7:00 p.m.
Masters ABC

Calling all new members!  This is an informal meet and greet where you will have the opportunity to chat with the Membership Committee, meet the FRA Board of Directors, and say hello to other new members!