City looks to private sector for funds
Truman site development getting started
By Christie Phillips
cphillips@keynoter.com
Searching for an extra $18 million that Key West doesn’t have, the
city is considering an unprecedented approach to developing the Truman
Waterfront.
City officials are looking at the idea of venturing into a
public-private joint partnership for the design and development of the
land, which the U.S. Navy officially deeded to the city this summer.
The partnership would alleviate much of the development costs for the
city.
"We’re not changing the concept and the land use that the citizens
selected and creating something entirely new," city Port Director
Raymond Archer was quick to point out. "We’re taking all those items and
creating criteria in which this piece of property can be developed.
"But instead of the city hiring an architect/engineer and paying them
to come up with a master plan, then having the city lay the
infrastructure, then seeing who’s interested in building the marina, the
retail space, etc., we would stand back and say, ‘OK folks, we have a
conceptual plan and it has certain conditions. Given this criteria, what
would you propose?’ "
The process would be a bit like the reality TV shows where three
interior designers give their visions of a room and the featured
homeowners choose which one they like the best.
The city would put the project out to private designers and
developers and they would propose a master plan for the site as they
envisioned it, provided it met with all the requisite criteria
established over the past several years.
"The city could then look at the proposals and say ‘I like that, I
like that,’ or we may not like any of them," Archer noted. "But this
would get the master plan done at no cost to the city, and probably help
pay for infrastructure of the site and some other development."
"This creates a competitive process among potential partners," Mark
Lawson, consultant for the city on possible funding alternatives for the
waterfront development, said at the City Commission meeting Tuesday.
City Port Operations and the Finance Department made a presentation
to the commission on the status of the proposed development.
"It brings private sector ideas to your project, so you can see a
series of vision plans, and maximizes the opportunity to have the
private sector participate in this process," Lawson said.
The partnership could save the city the $1.5 million budgeted for
engineering and design services for the Truman Waterfront, officials
said.
"There’s no guarantee that we’re going to go out and have our doors
beaten down by a number of different parties interested in this," Archer
cautioned. "This is not a big, attractive development site where there
are plenty of opportunities for businesses to make big investments."
The site would mostly consist of parkland and recreation areas, with
public access to the waterfront and multiple ingress/egress points into
the property for the general public. Some economic development is zoned
for the construction of retail space and affordable housing units, as
well as a marina site.
"It’s the intention of the city and the residents that the primary
focus of this land is recreation and parkland, and that’s what it’s
going to be," Archer said.
A private partnership does have drawbacks.
"We would lose a bit of control because we’d have an investor,"
Archer said. "And the big question with all these set criteria attached
to the project is, Is this going to be attractive enough to get
interested parties to participate?"
The alternatives would be for the city to fund the project over time,
developing the site piecemeal as money arises, or to fund the site
though bonds, which may impose further restrictions on the site plans.
The
City Commission has asked for a more thorough review of the
public-private partnership option to be presented at its next meeting,
scheduled for Oct. 8.
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