Hayward Assembles Downtown Team

Pensacola’s mayor has assembled an Urban Redevelopment Advisory Committee in an effort to focus of the development of the city’s downtown.

Beginning this month, the committee will embark on a four-month endeavor to assist Mayor Ashton Hayward in implementing the redevelopment of Pensacola’s Community Redevelopment Agency—including downtown, the waterfront and surrounding neighborhoods. The group will be working towards incentivizing development and converting vacant and surplus public property to active uses.

“The City has planned and studied the redevelopment of our downtown and waterfront for long enough,” Hayward said in a statement. “There are several redevelopment plans just sitting on the shelf collecting dust.”

The Urban Redevelopment Advisory Committee will tasked with producing a report outlining specific recommendations. The mayor has outlined nine goals to guide the group’s work: build a community that is competitive in today’s economy; replenish the income of the CRA through new capital investment; make productive use of the large inventory of public land; create jobs and a sustainable future for this community; create a walkable community by increasing mixed-use density; insure that opportunities created and resources expended will benefit all; create a waterfront that is a thriving public space; create housing with a wide spectrum of affordability; restore the value of the authentic, historic character of downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods.

“As a downtown resident and business owner, I’m excited to see Mayor Hayward shift focus from the planning phase to taking action,” said Brian Spencer, Chair of the Community Redevelopment Agency, in a statement. “This is a great opportunity to focus on the execution of our redevelopment efforts.”
The seven members of the Mayor’s Urban Redevelopment Advisory Committee are Dr. Ken Ford, Teresa Dos Santos, Christian Wagley, John Myslak, Brian Hooper, Stephanie Powell, and Shana Neuhaus.