JACKSON — Downtown Jackson Partners President Ben Allen resembled a proud father during a presentation to downtown property owners at the Mississippi Museum of Art on May 26. A video displayed images of a vast cityscape, streets filled with smiling young professionals and renovated lofts.
“We are proud,” the large projection screen read. “Proud of our progress.” If you hadn’t been to Jackson in 20 years, you might not recognize the city on the screen.
“Doesn’t that just make you want to cry?” Allen asked the group after the video. He seemed to be holding back tears of his own. The presentation, created by Hilda Owen, DJP board secretary and Communication Arts Company co-owner, showcased Jackson’s milestones and many projects Allen says he had championed when naysayers said otherwise.
The organization manages a 66-block Business Improvement District under a law that the state Legislature enacted in 1996. The law allows any city in the state to form a BID and levy an assessment on all taxable property in those districts.
DJP charges property owners 10 cents on each square foot of buildings and “unimproved” real estate located within the district. DJP is up for renewal Aug. 16.
The district must undergo a reauthorization process every five years. In recent weeks, property owners have cast votes for or against the BID—and subsequently Downtown Jackson Partners, which manages it. The district must receive 70 percent approval or it will dissolve.
In addition to recruiting potential developers and facilitating developments, DJP offers marketing assistance to businesses, year-round landscaping, daily street sweeping, event promotion and an online directory of real-estate property. In 2009, DJP opened a marketing center inside the Electric 308 Building at 308 E. Pearl St. that BID members can use for free.
Allen isn’t one to put his emotions on the shelf. The story of how the presentation made him cry is one he would later tell twice to Jackson City Council members to demonstrate the emotional stake he has in downtown Jackson.
That passion can resonate with city dwellers and advocates who have big dreams for their city. Allen likes to stand up in a room full of people and give passionate speeches that are a cross between a comedy routine and a pro-Jackson monologue. Speaking to a group of community members April 1 at Koinonia Coffee House, Allen even took a few friendly jabs at the suburbs to make his point about Jackson’s uniqueness.
He shared a story about joking with Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins Butler about “diversity” in the suburbs. “In Madison, your diversity is what color BMW do you have,” Allen said he told her. “It’s where do you play golf: Annandale or Reunion?”
Hawkins Butler didn’t return calls to confirm the story. Allen likes that joke, having also told it in a post on the JFP website in 2008. “We do not want our only diversity to be what color is your BMW,” Allen said, referring to the suburbs.
A Rocky Start
Downtown Jackson needed a shot in the arm in the early 1990s. The city was hurting from decades of flight, which resulted in empty buildings and unkempt property.
In 1993, under Mayor Kane Ditto’s administration, a group of downtown investors and business owners formed Capital Center Inc. The organization raised money from local business owners and developers to provide security, landscaping services and marketing downtown.
Cities had begun using BIDs in the 1970s—Toronto was the first—as a way to restore downtown cores at a time when many Americans were migrating to the suburbs. BIDS in New Orleans have been so successful that the city has implemented multiple BIDs.
Mississippi Development Authority Executive Director Leland Speed, who was chairman of Eastgroup Properties at the time, served as chairman of CCI. Franklin “Kim” Kimbrough, who now works in economic development in Pensacola, Fla., served as president.
“We ran that for three years on a tin-cup basis—just on the basis of contributions,” Speed said. “The city made a contribution at that time, but the bulk of it came from raising money that property owners kicked in. … We were raising close to a million a year.”
In 1996, Mississippi Transportation Commissioner Dick Hall authored a bill to establish BIDs in Mississippi, along with co-author Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson.
“It was at a time when we were seeing a transition in Jackson from a government that was predominately white to predominately black,” Horhn said.
“As a result, community leaders felt that this law was a way for mostly white businesses to circumvent any kind of authority presented by the majority-black leadership.”
Horhn said that the entire Farish Street Entertainment District was originally included in the proposed BID boundaries, but BID advocates ended up excluding the district due to opposition from the black community that might have cost votes. Now, more than 15 years later, Downtown Jackson Partners is proposing to add the second block of Farish Street in the BID’s expansion; the first block is already included.
“The irony of the whole thing now is that there is a strong interest in (including Farish Street) in the district,” Horhn said.
“People realize that it wasn’t the ulterior motives they thought it would have. It was something meant to enhance businesses, and today they want to be a part of those enhancements.”
In 1996, CCI failed to get enough property owners’ votes to authorize the district. The next year, however, it was successful. Speed maintains that the Legislature established tight restrictions for authorizing the BID, such as requiring 70 percent approval from property owners, as a tactic to see it fail. BIDs in other states typically require less than 70 percent approval. Memphis, for example, does not even have an election, and property owners have no choice in paying an assessment fee.
What About Me?
Ben Allen, a Vicksburg native, graduated from Mississippi State University with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and political science in 1973. He ran for Jackson City Council in 1996 and won after working for a yearbook publishing company, Taylor Printing, for more than two decades.
After Frank Melton was elected in 2005, Allen soon became a critic of the controversial mayor’s tactics. Then, he unexpectedly resigned from Council June 20, 2007, citing health problems.
“Recent events and subsequent tests have confirmed that the effects and demands of this position, coupled with the demands of my personal and professional life, have a defined, adverse impact on my health, both short and possibly long term,” Allen wrote in a handwritten resignation letter.
On Nov. 1, 2007, Allen began his job as Downtown Jackson Partners president, saying his health had improved.
Since 2007, and during Allen’s tenure, DJP has helped fund various marketing studies including a downtown parking study, a retail study and another on property owners. The marketing budget also includes promotion and funding of special events such as Downtown After Dusk and the inaugural legislative conference last January between legislative officials and Jackson’s business community.
During the May 26, 2011, presentation, Allen gave an overview of growth that occurred in the BID since 1996. It includes big projects like the renovated Plaza Building, King Edward Hotel, Standard Life building, Tombigbee Lofts and the mixed-use Electric Building. The district has a total of 200 apartment units.
DJP researches financing options for developers who have an interest in downtown properties to help them determine if a project is economically feasible. “I have these tax guys on my speed dial,” Allen said. “That’s what we do. It might be hard for people to understand, but I don’t know about a deal that happens in this city that (developers) don’t call us about.”
When it came time for questions, there were a few moments of silence, but then from the back of the room came a voice of concern.
Tanya Scott is the managing partner of Ceva Green, a proposed $70 million mixed-used development planned for State Street. Scott and her father, Corbett Scott, purchased the property six years ago to border another proposed development, Old Capitol Green. She says Ceva Green has struggled to get the city to assist with infrastructure needs, even as Old Capitol Green has attracted more public support, assistance and attention from Downtown Jackson Partners.
“How does the BID assist with our infrastructure needs so the development can move forward?” Scott asked.
“If you would have asked me three years ago, I would have been able to give you a definitive answer,” Allen replied with a tinge of defensiveness. “… Now I would have to go through (Jackson Public Works Director) Dan Gaillet who is a very competent, capable, wonderful guy that we lost and got back. I can’t answer that,” Allen replied.
Scott tried her question again. “If you have property owners (who) are moving toward the capacity to do something that will absolutely benefit downtown, … how does the BID insert itself in this process in order to assist these things?” she asked.
Allen took a few detours before answering Scott’s question.
“Well it’s not ‘insert,’ it’s ‘be a part of the process,’” Allen said. “If you take something like Old Capitol Green, it’s not as complicated as you think. Listen to me: If a building cost $1 million to build, it assesses for $600,000. For every $100,000 in assessed value, there is $16,000 in taxes. … So if someone is going to build an $800 million business, do the math. You can work it in your head. For every thousand dollars in tax income, you got $15,000 in money you can bond. I’m just going to lay it out to you: There are people in downtown Jackson who want crazy prices for their buildings. They won’t work. … In your instance, when you want to do this massive infrastructure in a $1.1 billion deal, run the number on what that generates in bonds—it’s a fortune.
“To answer your question: You can’t believe everything you read in the press. But I did read in the Jackson Free Press today that (Old Capitol Green developer Malcolm Shepherd) feels really good about the project moving forward,” he added.
Scott wasn’t satisfied with Allen’s response—in fact, she felt like he had skirted around the issue.
“If you make a statement like that, are you saying that you aren’t or you are capable of facilitating it? My perception is that DJP are there to help facilitate things, but maybe not,” Scott told the JFP. “Maybe it is just security, landscaping and things like that. It wasn’t clear.”
As of press time, Old Capitol Green had missed a deadline to submit a term sheet to the Jackson Redevelopment Authority to negotiate a cost-sharing agreement. And on Friday, July 22, the Stimley-Brown law firm filed suit against Old Capitol Green developers Full Spectrum South and Full Spectrum New York for not paying rent at their 802 North St. office over the course of a year. Full Spectrum South developer Malcolm Shepherd said he could not comment on the lawsuit and assured that he would submit the term sheet to JRA by the end of the week.
DJP Board member and developer David Watkins was one of the most vocal supporters of the BID at the meeting. Watkins and HRI Properties of New Orleans redeveloped the King Edward Hotel and Standard Life Building. Together, they pay $51,815 in BID assessment fees for those properties, and Watkins has also agreed to pay the assessment fee for the future Farish Street Entertainment District he is developing, even though the Jackson Redevelopment Authority owns it and is not required to pay taxes or fees. Because JRA is a quasi-governmental agency, it also does not have a vote in the reauthorization process.
“If you look at where we were in 1996 and where we are today, the difference for downtown Jackson has really been this organization,” Watkins said at the May 26 presentation. “The only way for us to have the resources we need to do what we need to keep downtown Jackson clean and safe is to go through with this BID.”
Watkins and Allen worked together to save the King Edward Hotel, including when then-Mayor Frank Melton tried repeatedly to derail the project. DJP board member Sam Begley says that Allen “stood between (Melton) and a wrecking ball” to keep the hotel from being completely demolished.
The night of May 26, 15 of the 17 property owners attending the meeting voted to expand the district to include the “second block” of Farish Street—from F. Jones Corners to the Alamo Theatre—and start the reauthorization process. Scott and her father were the only two opposition votes.
The vote cleared only the first of many hurdles for reauthorization. Then DJP had clearance to ask the city council to set a public hearing within the next 30 days.
After the hearing, the Council set an election date for Aug. 16. During the month leading up to the election, DJP mailed ballots to owners.
Under state law, the property owners themselves must send the their marked and signed ballots directly to the city clerk’s office.* (See clarification under story for more information on the laws governing BID balloting.)
A city attorney then verifies the votes after Aug. 16, and it is final.
Previous Comments
Someone asked me last night about the following sentence in the above story in the “Development Politics” section and to clarify what it means: The past issues Johnson had with the BID foreshadow the current relationship between the two entities—one that can resemble a power struggle framed by partisan race politics. I added that sentence in the editing process as a transition between Lacey’s discussion of the BID’s rocky past, which was steeped in race politics, to the current relationship between the DJP president and the mayor, which was a bit abrupt without it. Reading it now, I can see how it can appear a bit “two-faced”–a phrase we use in journalism for a sentence that can have more than one meaning. The point is not that the differences between Allen and Johnson are all about race politics. They’re clearly not, with a more diverse board and a deliberate effort by DJP to reach out to more African American businesses, board members, supporters, etc. Watching Allen address the Koinonia Friday Forum crowd and their positive response to him alone shows how far DJP, and he, have come from the days when he and Stokes used to squabble on Council. Our hat is off to that kind or progress, as well to all of DJP’s accomplishments, as well as the mayor’s. The point of that statement was simple: to say that Allen and the mayor still seem to be divided, which is likely made more challenging by the gauntlet of race politics that they’ve both had to run to be where they are. Even in his last election, the mayor played some divisive politics against powerful whites to solidify his vote (and they against him, to be fair); Allen came to prominence in the city as a Ward 1 councilman who had to please a constituency that routinely has voted based on race. All of this is common knowledge, and it is what “frames” their positions today (as the section just above that one set up) whether they like it or not (and I suspect neither do). Personally, I think DJP is an interesting experiment in overcoming the racial politics in the city. As you can see in the above article, much (if not most) of the DJP praise comes from African Americans, and our business community is becoming much more diverse in general — thanks to men like David Watkins and Dr. Cooley, and now arguably Ben Allen, who aren’t afraid to be deliberate with diversity efforts. And it is true as Dr. Burton (and Lacey) conclude above: Our city’s future is going to depend on these ongoing efforts to work together despite differences and for groups from DJP to the city to walk the diversity talk. I think the biggest challenges could be egos on all sides, especially when it comes to taking credit for something that lots of people have done and still working with someone who criticizes your ideas. I urge everyone to put those differences aside, or to use them to help us get to the second best ideas.) (See my editor’s note this issue to see what I mean by that: Second Best Ideas.
#164272 | Author: DonnaLadd | Date: Aug 4 2011
One more thing, and I’ll shut up: I think the challenge that bothers me most about downtown is how to ensure that residential and small-business support continues at a steady pace, even as DJP and the city court big ideas. We have long said (since back in the day when we warned that a Convention Center would be hampered by the need for an expensive hotel) that the big projects alone won’t get it done (based on research on other cities and just looking at the depressing empty storefronts). John Gomez addresses this challenge in the above story in what seems to be a very honest way, and that should make us all think about it seriously. That is, how can we all overcome differences and work together to make sure that an integrated development approach is occurring downtown and throughout the city. And I don’t mean race here; I mean a steady pursuit of new residential that support local businesses, even as we think about bigger projects. How can everyone overcome differences and get around a table to be creative? The mayor and DJP can’t do it all, and shouldn’t. How can we get artists into some of those spaces that are just rotting from lack of use and disrepair? How can we make shorter-term efforts to make downtown look really exciting and a place to be? It also struck me that Parlor Market could serve as a lesson to many other businesses in how to market yourself to a younger demographic. Let’s really pick their brains, and others’, to get best practices on really using social media and relationship-building (which those guys did for months before opening that restaurant) to get people excited and to build a bigger and even more diverse “downtown tribe.” And let’s make sure that younger faces are constantly out in front of the marketing (which is what we’re doing much more with BOOM now). As I say in my editor’s note, welcoming diverse opinions and ideas (and even dissent) is key to our city’s future. Let’s really build on what’s happened already, and not let the excitement slow down.
#164273 | Author: DonnaLadd | Date: Aug 4 2011
BTW, Whitney and Neil and others at the Jackson Community Design Center probably have a lot of great ideas that could inspire us all — even if it’s to get the second best idea. I urge everyone to really use that resource, especially when we’re talking about how to do bottom-up kinds of projects to balance the big, audacious concepts like lakes and arenas and hotels.
#164274 | Author: DonnaLadd | Date: Aug 4 2011
This clarification has been added to the bottom of the above story: In “Measuring Progress: The Evolution of Downtown Jackson Partners,” JFP news editor Lacey McLaughlin wrote that state law requires property owners to mail their ballots directly to the city clerk’s office. According to Sec. 21-43-117 of the Mississippi Code, which governs BIDs: “Ballots shall be marked, signed and submitted by the eligible property owner to the clerk of the municipality by the date designated on the ballot.” John Gomez of DJP wrote after this story to say that “state statute regarding the BID does not stipulate how ballots are to be delivered.” He has also said that some property owners send ballots directly to DJP. A 2001 attorney general’s opinion seemed to have softened the original requirement that property owners must submit their ballots to the city clerk, saying a property owner may choose an agent or person to deliver it, but without specifically addressing whether the BID district itself can be that agent. It reads in full: ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINIONS Absent lawfully adopted procedures, a property owner can choose the method of submission of a ballot to be used, which may include U.S. mail; however, a clerk may not accept ballots which are postmarked by that date, but received on a later date. Clark, Sept. 7, 2001, A.G. Op. #01-0535. In the absence of procedures lawfully adopted by the municipal governing authorities, there is no requirement the ballots be placed in an envelope. Clark, Sept. 7, 2001, A.G. Op. #01-0535. Absent any procedures lawfully adopted by the governing authorities, a property owner may determine the method of submission of a ballot to the clerk, whether it be by personal delivery or delivery by a designated or appointed person or agent; similarly, it is a determination of the property owner how to document any designation or agency. Clark, Sept. 7, 2001, A.G. Op. #01-0535.
#164319 | Author: DonnaLadd | Date: Aug 8 2011