Downtown Community Redevelopment Area

Purpose and History
As with many downtowns in the past several decades, the downtown area of Tallahassee has witnessed a change away from retail and residential to an area dominated by office space, with little activity after 5:00 PM. In an attempt to revitalize the downtown into an 18-hour destination with a wide variety of uses the City authorized a study in March, 2002 to evaluate existing conditions to determine if conditions were present to create a downtown redevelopment area. The resulting study, the Finding of Necessity for Redevelopment, found that 79 of the 93 downtown blocks surveyed had conditions that supported a slum or blight designation, as defined by Chapter 163, Part III, Florida Statutes. In September 2002, the City Commission adopted the results of the Finding of Necessity and established the boundaries for the Downtown Community Redevelopment Area, comprising 441 acres.

In June 2004, the City Commission completed the process for establishing the Downtown District Community Redevelopment Area by adopting the Redevelopment Plan and establishing a trust fund. The Community Redevelopment Agency Board governs the activities of the Downtown CRA, as well as the activities of the Frenchtown/Southside CRA. In February 2006 the CRA Board approved the establishment of the Downtown Redevelopment Commission to make recommendations to the Board on the expenditure of Downtown CRA funds.

For more information on the Downtown CRA, please click on any of the following links:

• View the map of the Downtown CRA (PDF)
• View the Urban Framework Plan (PDF)
• View the Analysis and Development Plan (PDF)
• View the Development Plan Elements (PDF)
• View the Development Plan Map (PDF)
• View the Downtown Locator Map (PDF)

Major Projects

• Marriott Residence Inn - Construction of the Marriott Residence Inn at the intersection of Gaines Street and Railroad Avenue was completed in December 2006. Partially funded with a $450,000 grant from the Community Redevelopment Agency, the project included a number of Agency and City-directed urban design features, including: building the hotel to the street, with parking in the rear; providing commercial and meeting space on the ground floor that is accessible from the street; designing the façade with alternating setbacks to give the appearance of more than one building; and providing a public space at the southeast corner of the building.
• Former Floridan site - Agency and City staff worked with representatives of the McKibbon Hotel Group on the development of the former Floridan Hotel site, at the corner of Monroe and Tennessee Streets. Construction of a 150-room hotel with a restaurant and retail space is currently underway, with completion expected by the end of 2009. Future plans include a 90,000 square foot office building on this site, and an Agency-supported parking garage.
• Alliance Center - Construction of the Alliance Center, a 90,000 square-foot mixed-use development on South Monroe Street, began in the Spring of 2007, with completion slated for early 2009. The Center will have 14,415 square feet of ground floor space dedicated to retail and residential uses, with the remainder of the development built as office space. The Agency provided $495,000 in incentive funds to develop the retail and office space, as well as 30 parking spaces that will be dedicated for residential and retail uses. These parking spaces will also be made available to the public during non-business hours.