February 21, 2010

Tallahassee is so fortunate to be a beneficiary of the Knight Creative Communities Institute, which is again this year acting as a catalyst to four extraordinary projects that within in the next year expect to make real and lasting improvements in the quality of life here.

Four teams are at work with clear goals and new energy to move them along. They are:

-Talent Lives Here is an initiative aimed at one of our long-standing ambitions, which is to increase the number of local college graduates who will choose to remain in the Tallahassee area as young professionals. The approach, specifically, will be through enhancement of internship experiences in businesses and organizations. The link is strong between where students have internships and the communities where they settle and thrive, because they’ve made connections and gotten to know the community outside of the campus “bubbles,” that students often never leave during their university experience. Interested? E-mail William Smith at Smith.William@ccbg.com.

-Identify Tallahassee and Illuminate Tallahassee are two sides of one initiative that focuses on growing Tallahassee’s economy through an enhanced sense of place. This means recognizing special districts — like Midtown, G-Street (that’s Gaines Street), SoMo (that’s South Monroe) — for their unique qualities and enhancing Tallahassee’s visual appeal through art, arches, murals and other visual projects, with a focus on the urban core. Interested? E-mail jdrevell87@yahoo.com or mike@trusteria.com.

-Explore Outdoors is such a natural. It will focus on informing newcomers as well as longtime residents about existing outdoor activities so there is more awareness of and participation in physical, cultural, historical and educational outdoor opportunities in this region. The flagship, to encourage an active lifestyle, will be an adventure race in August, with live music, food and vendors. Interested? E-mail lmille@cob.fsu.edu.

-Start Up, Start Up is all about fostering a greater entrepreneurial climate in this region, especially in the areas of technology, research and development. This initiative will include identifying all the resources and organizations that can provide financial and/or consulting assistance to young, small businesses through a comprehensive Web site and with a mentoring focus. Interested? E-mail john.webb@freedomfabrication.com.

All of these ideas have been talked about off and on for years to some extent, and the KCCI program has such promise because it involves committed, well-focused volunteers with time-certain goals, the organization and human energy to advance these community-enriching ideas as never before.With all the challenges and disruptions that the slow economy has brought about, we salute KCCI and all its volunteers in this year’s catalyst projects for stepping up and contributing so enormously and optimistically to this place we call home.

See where Tallahassee ranks here.

Those student body representatives who were hoping to get a true dialogue with Mayor John Marks on Monday may have been a little let down.

Fifteen student representatives from Tallahassee Community College, Florida A&M, and Florida State
met with the mayor as part of a week-long series called “Students’ First Week.”

The goal was to hold the first of many sessions planned this week to identify issues of importance
to college students and to create a dialogue between students and city officials.

“This is the first time this has been done,” Marks said of the gathering. “But not the last, assuming I win re-election,” he added with a laugh.

The mayor then spoke for the better part of an hour about his plans for the city (better marketing,
increasing tourism), the city’s needs (better transportation, lower unemployment rate) and what
he hopes to see in the future (creating “a sense of place” for Frenchtown, Midtown and Market Square.)

Student concerns included: the lack of transportation to the airport, the dearth of outlet malls, getting the mayor and city officials more
involved at TCC’s community efforts, high utility rates and a proposal to construct a pedestrian zone
near Tennessee and Dewey streets.

Gallop Franklin II, student body president of Florida A&M, asked what the city was doing to regulate tow
companies.

“Towing companies seem to take advantage of the students,” Franklin said. “It seems like the towing
companies are really focusing on students.”

To this, the mayor mentioned an ordinance from two years ago and looked at his aide, Ramon Alexander,
and said, ” let’s take a look at it.”

In response to a student’s perception about a disconnect between the city and university students, especially in term of promoting cultural activities,
Marks said there are plenty of opportunities but “we’re suffering from an inability to get the word
out. Let’s figure out a marketing strategy.”

He proposed a student session with Lee Daniels, Leon County’s director of tourism and economic development.

“I hate to shove it off,” Marks said, “But he can do a lot more than I can.”

Today the city will host the Capital City Student Dialogue from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at City Hall.

“Tomorrow will be more interactive,” Franklin said.

Much like Macon, the community of Tallahassee, Fla., received a grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to launch a series of initiatives designed to improve life in the area.But Tallahassee has taken a different approach than Macon in how it is using its grant. Leaders in Tallahassee launched the Knight Creative Community Institute to oversee those initiatives.

A Macon delegation traveled to Tallahassee last week to get some ideas and see how those initiatives are doing.

“It’s getting a different perspective of the process,” said Chip Cherry, president and CEO of the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce, who made the trip along with chamber Chairman Robbo Hatcher. “They identify and address certain issues that are important to the community.”

Macon has received a few grants from the Knight Foundation to fund projects with the College Hill Alliance — the partnership between the city and Mercer University to develop the corridor area between the college and downtown — and with the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, through which members of the community can apply for grant money to launch their own neighborhood improvement projects in the corridor area.

In Tallahassee, KCCI unites all of the various stakeholders in the city, including the city and county governments, the chamber of commerce, Florida State University, Florida A&M University and Tallahassee Community College with the Knight Foundation. Their goal is to come up with ways to keep graduates from those colleges in the Tallahassee area and train them to be the next generation of community leaders.

It’s a plan that was devised by Richard Florida in his book “The Rise of the Creative Class,” in which the author argues that by creating a sense of place for these graduates, they are more likely to stay in the city, which will ultimately help foster economic, environmental and cultural development.

A group called Leadership Tallahassee recruits young talent in the area and trains them in the leadership process. Many of the graduates of Leadership Tallahassee have gone on to work on KCCI projects, said J. Michael Pate, the director of the Knight Foundation in Tallahassee.

“We’re creating a sense of place to keep the young people here,” he said. “We select 30 people who are community catalysts. They get training and research data about the Tallahassee area. We then ask them to create projects that create a sense of place.”

Macon has its own Leadership Macon class each year, through a program administered by the chamber, but KCCI is comparable to post-graduate studies for Leadership Tallahassee, Pate said.

The first KCCI class came up with three ideas: Get Gaines Going, a project that seeks to turn Gaines Street — a major thoroughfare that runs through Florida State and Florida A&M — into an arts and entertainment district; Sustain Tallahassee, which is developing green options for the city; and the Tallahassee Film Festival.

“We were very impressed with how they are able to involve young people and people who haven’t traditionally been involved with the city,” said Kathryn Dennis, executive director of the Community Foundation of Central Georgia, who also made the trip. “Their energy was amazing, their passion for the city and wanting to make it better.”

A second KCCI class is in its fourth month and is working on four separate projects set to launch by October:

— Illuminate Tallahassee, which seeks to create outdoor art and more light in the city, but in an energy-efficient way.

— Explore Outdoors, which aims to promote outdoor life and opportunities around the Tallahassee area.

— Talent Lives Here, designed to work with Tallahassee businesses to create job and internship opportunities to keep the members of the creative class in the area.

— Startup Startup, which is designed to help foster entrepreneurial efforts in the city.

For the group from Macon that made the trip, it was not only a chance to take notes to see what has worked in Tallahassee, but also what hasn’t.

“With some of the initiatives they’ve undertaken, what they articulated to us is what they would change,” Cherry said. “It’s having the value of hindsight.”

Dennis said the Macon delegation will likely meet in the near future to discuss what was learned on the trip and what could be applied in Macon.

Beverly Blake, executive director of the Knight Foundation in Macon, organized the trip and said the group hopes to bring some of the ideas they saw in practice down in Tallahassee and apply them to initiatives here.

“We’re hoping to help our chamber leadership and how they might expand the toolkit for economic development,” she said. “(Keeping) our college graduates can bring new ideas and new jobs to Macon. We want to supplement our current business strategy. How can we expand our current business strategy by taking these young people in? We have eight institutes of higher learning in this area and we need to keep those students here.”

The Knight Foundation promotes journalism excellence worldwide and invests in the vitality of Macon and 25 other U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers in their lifetimes.

To contact writer Phillip Ramati, call 744-4334.

By TaMaryn Waters
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

At first, 15 goals were up for discussion during the City Commission’s annual retreat Wednesday at Hilaman Golf Course, but commissioners eventually pared the list down to four priorities.

Collectively, they agreed to focus on creating more jobs, strengthening the budget, promoting the city as a destination spot and encouraging more connectivity by giving people more options for mobility.

Last year’s retreat focused heavily on the city’s dire need to rebound from the recession and fanning out federal stimulus money for a string of projects.

Wednesday’s dialogue catapulted other ideas commissioners said warranted consideration, such as inviting local universities to play a role in economic development, promoting more energy efficiency and potentially creating merit pay for city employees.

Paco de la Fuente, 60, was one of a handful of residents who quietly listened. He said he was impressed.

“I think they are ambitious goals, and I hope they can be implemented,” de la Fuente said.

Commissioners Mark Mustian and Gil Ziffer said they believed the retreat was effective, but they said the challenge will be putting the priorities in a workable format. City staffers plan to create steps that will address each priority.

“This was the easy part,” Mustian said.

The need to replenish the city’s reserve fund, which is generally used for emergencies, is a firm priority.

The city used $2.2 million to balance the fire fund and about $992,000 for the building-inspection fund by the end of 2009, said Raoul Lavin, director of management and administration.

Lavin said over the past three years the deficiency fund was used to pay for services that were not generating enough revenue to cover expenses. He said the city’s goal is to always have enough money in reserves to cover operating costs for two months or about $21.8 million. Lavin said the city currently has $5.2 million in the reserve fund. By the end of this fiscal year, he said it should be increased to about $11 million.

Mayor John Marks and Commissioner Andrew Gillum stressed the need to promote the city’s attractions in an effort to increase tourism.

“I think we have a tremendous opportunity to create a leisure market,” Marks said. “We have not done a very good job of promoting the city of Tallahassee as a place they can visit.”

Commissioner Debbie Lightsey encouraged commissioners to consider the potential in reaching out to Florida A&M and Florida State universities to help bolster economic development since the universities are heavily involved in research, which could bring in more money locally.

Gov. Charlie Crist said last week he wanted to inject $100 million into the state’s public universities for the 2010-2011 budget year. The Board of Governors, which provides oversight for the state’s public universities, hopes to create an initiative — New Florida — that will include universities in an effort to boost the state’s economy.

Ziffer also said the commission should conduct meetings or discussions in venues beyond City Hall. He said that may encourage more residents to get involved.

Additional Facts

City’s 2010 priorities:

- Take concrete steps to expand job creation and retention to reduce the city’s unemployment rate.

- Create a five-year balanced budget without an increase in the property-tax rate or deferral of costs and fully restore the deficiency fund within five to seven years.

- Work with private and public interests and cultural organizations to create a sense of place in distinct sectors of the community.

- Foster an environment of connectivity and safe options for transportation.

Pulsating pop music bounces from the plush leather lounge chairs to the flat-screen televisions on the wall to the chandeliers that look like cascading bubbles.

The lights are dim, and the murmuring crowd mingles as cocktails are ordered from the bar.

A new nightclub? Hardly. It’s the lobby of Hotel Duval, one of two boutique hotels that have opened in Tallahassee over the past six months. Aloft Tallahassee Downtown, affiliated with the W Hotels chain, opened a block away from Hotel Duval in September 2009.

Boutique hotels, which emerged in the 1990s, are typically smaller hotels not affiliated with national chains. They’re often outfitted with trendy furnishings and attract a younger clientele. These fashionable accomodations eschew the cookie-cutter décor and floor plans that many national chains offer. Instead of carpet, one might find wood floors. Instead of room service, a martini bar.

Traditional hotel perks, such as room service and pools, may not be available at boutique hotels. Such amenities are often swapped for moderate prices, modern furniture, bright colors, flat-screen televisions, hip music, and popular bars and restaurants.

“It’s like a bed and breakfast on steroids,” said Christopher Muller, a professor at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida.

In Tallahassee, Aloft Tallahassee Downtown and Hotel Duval opened their doors within a month of each other.

Florida’s capital city is attractive to hoteliers because of its young population and its steady flow of tourists to the town’s universities and state Capitol, according to hospitality industry officials.

Tallahassee isn’t a large enough market to attract five-star luxury hotels like the Four Seasons or St. Regis, Muller said, so boutique hotels fill the need for more high-end options without resort-style amenities, such as a spa or Olympic-size pool.

Major hotel chains don’t flip a coin to decide which markets to enter, hotel experts say. It’s a strategic decision, made after thoroughly examining a community, its demographics, its need for hotel rooms and average room rates.

Tallahassee’s new boutique hotels are here because their operators are confident they will fill their rooms, said Woody Kim, director of the International Center for Hospitality Research and Development at Florida State University.

In the first six months of 2009, Tallahassee’s average occupancy rate was 54 percent and its average room rate was $77.46, according to Smith Travel Research, a hospitality industry research firm. These disappointing figures reflect the economic wallop the hotel industry is experiencing statewide, industry experts say. Still, Tallahassee typically offers better occupancy and room rental rates than other Florida cities, Kim said.

Aloft chose Tallahassee as only its second Florida city to debut its brand.

Hotel Duval is owned by Hunter & Harp Holdings, a real estate development firm headed by local investors Chad Kittrell, Frank Whitley and J.T. Burnette. This is the trio’s first hotel development project, though they have worked on other commercial properties.

“We did a lot of feasibility research,” Kittrell said. “There was a need for a high-end, full-service hotel that hits a certain price point that is affordable for the Tallahassee market.”

Aloft and Hotel Duval’s rates vary, with summer and winter offering lower rates than spring and fall. Aloft’s rates range from $100 to $200 a night, and Hotel Duval’s rates start at $159 a night and rise to $589 for its top-floor, apartment-size suites.

A Block Transformed
They sit only a block apart, on opposite sides of North Monroe Street, and opened at around the same time. But although they both cater to a hip clientele with trendy, modern furniture, Hotel Duval and Aloft Tallahassee Downtown offer different amenities and atmosphere.

Hotel Duval is steeped in history. Called the Duval Hotel when it was built in 1951, it later became an FSU dormitory and offices. In the 1980s it was retrofitted back into a hotel under the Radisson banner and later became a Park Plaza hotel. In 2007, Hunter & Harp bought the property and sank $15 million into a down-to-the-studs renovation that aims to evoke some of Hotel Duval’s namesake history.

The managers and owners of Hotel Duval and Aloft say their goal is not just to lure out-of-town visitors, but to become a popular hotspot for Tallahassee residents looking for a place to eat, have drinks after work or host a work meeting, birthday party or wedding.

“Our goal is to reach anybody with good, disposable income who is looking for an upscale experience in Tallahassee,” said Hotel Duval general manager Marc Bauer.

In hopes of meeting expectations of clients with polished tastes, Hotel Duval offers three dining options: Shula’s 347 Grill, a steakhouse named for Hall of Fame NFL coach Don Shula; a lounge, LeRoc, that transforms from a Starbucks-serving breakfast stop in the morning to a lunch bistro at midday to a cocktail bar in the evening; and the posh Level 8 rooftop lounge, with much-raved-about views of downtown and Florida State University.

Down the block, visitors to Aloft Tallahassee Downtown are greeted with “Aloha!” by a peppy desk clerk.

Rock music blares from well-hidden speakers, and the lobby is swathed in swirls of vibrant turquoise, purple and green colors against muted shades of gray, black and brown. A news ticker scrolls headlines above a round reception desk.

The open lobby encourages visitors to enjoy the billiards table, stop by the WXYZ lounge for a drink and appetizer, or hit the snack and breakfast bar.

“I wouldn’t tie us to one demographic,” said Cara Hardiman, the general manager of Aloft. “It’s young families, a tech-savvy crowd, business professionals, attorneys, lobbyists. We’ve had members of Congress stay with us.”

Aloft was built on what used to be a vacant lot at the corner of Monroe and Tennessee streets. It was the site of the Floridan Hotel, which was demolished in 1985. Tallahassee Mayor John Marks helped the city purchase the site for $3.4 million in 1989 with the idea that the valuable land would one day hold something worthy of the Floridan’s footprint.

“I wanted to get a development that would fit that particular corner,” Marks said. When developers approached the city with the Aloft hotel concept, Marks approved. “I consider it a signature corner … The concept of putting another hotel there appealed to me.”

There are some major differences between the two boutique hotels. Hotel Duval, for instance, offers three dining options and catering, while Aloft has no sit-down restaurants and limited in-house catering options.

Aloft has a pool and outdoor patio, while Hotel Duval does not. Aloft visitors can self-park, while Hotel Duval offers valet parking only. And Hotel Duval has large suites, while Aloft only offers traditional rooms.

The Downtown Vision
Aloft Tallahassee Downtown and Hotel Duval are considered integral components of the city’s push for a more vibrant, 18-hour downtown, with shops and restaurants open late in the evening.

Though the hotels are competitors, managers of both say the synergy of two boutique hotels near one other may boost the popularity of the area with local residents.

“Each will appeal to a different market and audience but will play very well together and really be the anchors of this 18-hour downtown vision that has been bandied about for the better part of 10 years now,” said Bauer, the Hotel Duval general manager.

Hotel Duval will help “bridge the gap between Midtown and downtown,” local investor Kittrell said, as well as help retain students who might flee a city that is sometimes perceived as lacking in social life.

“We wanted to create an experience in Tallahassee for both travelers and local folks,” he said. “You can come and experience things you wouldn’t normally see.”

Hardiman agrees.

“Downtown Tallahassee needed something new and fresh,” said Aloft’s general manager. Out-of-town visitors who weren’t pleased with hotel choices may reconsider, Hardiman said. That means more people downtown, and more dollars going to local restaurants.

Tourists will be happy to see a hotel that can meet expectations for luxury they’ve seen in other cities, said Muller, the UCF professor.

“The people who come back (to Tallahassee) have some money and are willing to spend it in a semi-luxurious environment,” he said.

Muller also believes Hotel Duval and Aloft’s proximity to one another is a good thing. The competition between Hotel Duval and Aloft will likely keep room rates low, he said.

“There will be some great deals.”

A portion of the proceeds from the event will benefit Sustainable Tallahassee, an organization that promotes environmental stewardship and economic development through education and collaboration.  Ten Thousand Villages is located at 1415 Timberlane Road at Market Square. Visit www.sustainabletallahassee.org for more information or to get involved!

“What we do is each year we recruit 30 to 31 volunteers who will come up with initiatives that will impact our community by enhancing a sense of place in Tallahassee for residents and students by drawing a link between the business and student populations,” said KCCI Executive Director Laurie Hartsfield.

The volunteers for KCCI received extensive training to work with the program and understand how to improve the community.

“The volunteers, called community catalysts, have received training based on the ideas of Richard Florida, an economist, whose theory is that for a community to be successful, it has to develop a sense of place that will attract and retain college graduates and young professionals,” said Mike Pate, Florida program director for the Knight Foundation.

The Knight Foundation has provided these volunteers with research on the community to help uncover the needs of the Tallahassee residents.

“Through the research and polling, we found that the number one thing Tallahassee residents requested was enhanced social offerings, meaning having things to do in Tallahassee beyond workdays,” said Hartsfield. “Also, it found that the number one thing we could improve upon to get students from the two universities and community college to stay in Tallahassee after graduation is providing jobs, but more than that, it’s linking the business community with the student population.”

The Community Catalyst volunteers then analyzed this data and decided on four projects, all which are deliverable in 12 months to enhance the community by targeting the problems identified through the research.

Volunteers will focus their efforts on these four projects.
“Illuminate Tallahassee” is a program that seeks to create a more beautiful Tallahassee at night and in urban areas. “Startup Startup” focuses on the business growth accelerator program while “Talent Lives Here” seeks to create an internship type program to link students with businesses. The final project, “Explore Outdoors,” strives to promote the many outdoor activities in Tallahassee such as parks, hiking, biking trails and rivers.

To learn more or to get involved with KCCI, visit KCCITallahassee.com or KnightFoundation org.

There are a variety of committees looking for volunteers, including sponsorships, programming, volunteers, hospitality, venues and events.

If you are interested or would like more information, contact Linda Loy at volunteers@tallahasseefilmfestival.com.

www.tallahasseefilmfestival.com

Since the beginning of last summer, a group of graduate students from the Florida State University Department of Urban and Regional Planning have been researching and developing a plan to revitalize Gaines Street, a familiar corridor set between the two major universities of the area, FSU and Florida A&M University. This fall, there are nine students involved in the studio class that is managing the project.

“The studio class here is a capstone project for students to demonstrate that they’ve learned how to be planners over the two years of their master’s program,” said Melissa Saunders, planner in residence for the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and director of the studio class. “This semester, we’ve conducted a visual preference survey that was focused 90 percent on the two universities’ students and on the shop owners who currently exist on Gaines Street to understand what they would want to see developed.”

Saunders said that one of the major findings from the summer was that there is a large, untapped customer base for businesses already along the street.

“There’s an opportunity for all the students, staff and faculty to be real consumers of the Gaines Street area because Gaines Street is in such close proximity to the two universities,” Saunders said. “It seemed curious that there weren’t more university-oriented marketing considerations.”

Saunders said that her students used the survey to find out what would make people want to frequent Gaines Street more. They asked if the area should include more options for shopping, food, housing or entertainment and how much students spend on each of these items already.

“We figured with a survey we’d be able to reach the greatest amount of people instead of through a meeting,” said Jamie Hart, a graduate student in the studio class. “There was a questionnaire, and there was also a visual preference part of the survey, where we had images that we had compiled showing different types of urban forms, trying to get at what people thought was appropriate for Gaines Street.”

Hart said the survey was primarily conducted online using a link that was sent out to various departments at FSU to be forwarded on to students. A second method was to administer the survey to several undergraduate classes at both FSU and FAMU, as well as in their student unions during FSU’s Market Wednesday and FAMU’s The Set on Fridays.

The final method was to give a hard copy of the survey to every business owner currently operating on Gaines Street to receive feedback about their experiences and to understand what they want to see done.

Hart said the survey had over 450 respondents.

“Our overall take-home message so far has been that students from both universities currently do not use the Gaines Street area very often,” said Ryan Sweeney, a graduate student involved in the studio class. “Furthermore, the major reason they don’t use the area is because there is very little to do there.”

Sweeney said that the survey results suggest students want to see more mixed-use establishments — commercial shops, bars and restaurants on the first floor with apartments and townhouses on the floors above.

He said students would also like to see Gaines Street become a more pedestrian-friendly area with a more attractive external appearance.

“It’s not just the warehouses that are foreboding; it’s the sidewalks that are in really bad repair,” Saunders said. “There are a lot of conditions that make it feel uncared for and that immediately diminishes any potential consumer interest in going down to that area.”

Saunders said that one of the most important aspects of the street’s transformation will be to take the few socially iconic places that are there and find a way to preserve and enhance what they have to offer students.

She said that something must be done to keep students coming back on a regular basis and in larger numbers.

“What people really want to see is commercial places, social places, where people from the two universities can really mingle,” Saunders said. “At this point in time, there’s (nothing) that allows young people (from the two universities) to meet each other.”

Now that the group has entered the evaluation process, Saunders said that the students also looked into case studies from other cities across the nation who had similar problems as Gaines Street to see what they did to achieve market success.

Recommendations from this secondary research along with the results from the survey will be combined in a full report.

“The group is now in the process of formulating a plan for future development in the Gaines Street area that we hope may supplement the current plans or at least provide some suggestions for students’ preferences.” Sweeney said. “There is still a lot of work to be done on the topic of Gaines Street development.”

Saunders said that the report and the policy suggestions will be given to members of the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department, as well as the Gaines Sreet Urban Design Commission, of which she is a member.

“There are a lot of great opportunities for us to talk about what the market would like to see and that’s what we’re going to try and do,” Saunders said.

Saunders said that the current Gaines Street construction is a part of an ongoing infrastructure development action and that the city is working to create better sidewalks and more parallel parking spaces to make the environment safer for walking.

“That is certainly one of the most important principles for revitalizing commercial and residential development,” Saunders said. “The city is really taking a great step toward making it a much more pedestrian-friendly environment.”