The Summit on SPARC is free and open to the public. Continuing education hours may be available for licensed engineers, architects, landscape architects, and planners.
Schedule:
Monday, December 6, 2010
Coughlin-Saunders Performing Arts Center
1:30PM-1:45PM: Registration
1:45PM: Opening Remarks by Mayor Jacques M. Roy and Clifford J. Moller
1:57PM: Senator Mary L. Landrieu
2:08PM: KEYNOTE ADDRESS: The Honorable Joseph P. Riley, Mayor of Charleston, South Carolina
3:05PM: Break
3:15PM: Frederic Schwartz and Carlton Brown, The Old Capitol Green in Jackson, MS & Sustainable Affordable Housing in Ghana and Haiti
3:44PM: Greg Saville, What is Safe Growth?
3:56PM: Steven Bingler and Bobbi Provosty Hill, Nexus Communities
4:19PM: The Honorable Clarence Fields, Mayor of Pineville, Louisiana, Ft. Randolph and Ft. Buhlow
4:30PM: Break
4:41PM: Jason Tudor, Hollygrove: A Case Study
4:52PM: Jeffrey Carbo and the Honorable Brown Claybar, Mayor of Orange, Texas, The Economic Impact of Cultural Infrastructure
5:13PM: Patrick Moore, From Vision to Reality
5:29PM: Haley Blakeman, Jena’s Vision
5:40PM: Chris Camp, Emerging Trends in Recreation Infrastructure
5:51PM: Tyson Hackenberg, Redeveloping Brownfields
6:02PM: Eric Shaw, Resiliency in Louisiana
6:13PM: Closing Remarks by Moderator Sherman Desselle
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Alexandria Convention Hall
Part 1 – Workshop for consultants and community
9:00AM: Review of Safety Audit Debrief and Results
10:00AM: SafeGrowth Workshop: How does the model work?
Noon: Lunch
Part 2 – Strategic planning session for community
1:00PM – 3:30PM: Strategic planning session: Next steps for Alexandria
Click here to complete the survey. Deadline: June 15, 2010
On May 20, 21, and 22nd, the City of Alexandria will host four public workshops on the future of Bolton Avenue and North MacArthur Drive, two flagship SPARC projects that are expected to break ground within the next eleven months. All four meetings will be held at the Bolton Avenue Community Center. A complete schedule can be found by clicking here.
World-renowned architect Frederic Schwartz will be leading the North MacArthur enhancement and safety project, along with his colleagues Professor Mark Schimmenti of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and Carlton Brown, a Harlem, NY/Jackson, MS–based developer with Full Spectrum NY.
Nationally-recognized landscape architect Jeffrey Carbo, FASLA will be leading the Bolton Avenue Corridor Enhancement project along with MESA Design Group, an international landscape architecture firm based in Dallas, TX.
Mr. Schwartz, who has offices in New York and New Orleans, has completed major projects throughout the world and is currently designing four airports for the Government of India and working on major housing initiatives for Ghana. He has been featured in The New York Times over a dozen times, has appeared on PBS’s Charlie Rose show, and is the author of two acclaimed books.
Mr. Carbo, a graduate of the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture at LSU, is the founder of Jeffrey Carbo Landscape Architects, a thirteen-person firm in Alexandria, LA. He was elected to the ASLA Council of Fellows in 2005, was selected as LSU’s College of Art and Design Distinguished Alumni Award Recipient in 2007, and has been a featured speaker at numerous national and regional conferences. Mr. Carbo’s work has been featured in numerous publications including Landscape Architecture Magazine, International New Landscape, Green Source, House and Garden, Better Homes and Gardens, Garden Design, Southern Living and Southern Accents and has received over 30 design awards on the state and national level, including national recognition for work done along the Cane River in Natchitoches, LA as well as the Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center in Orange, TX. The firm is currently working on commissions throughout Louisiana and the southeast United States.
Mr. Schimmenti, an associate of Frederic Schwartz Architects for nearly thirty years, has also completed projects all over the American Southeast. He is a founding member of the Congress for New Urbanism and the author of The Plan of Nashville: Avenues to a Great City, a book that serves as the adopted master plan for the City of Nashville.
Mr. Brown is a well-regarded developer, housing expert, and sustainability advocate. His firm Full Spectrum NY, a minority-owned business based in Harlem and Jackson, MS, has conducted over half a billion dollars in development projects during the last few years. Currently, Mr. Brown is the driving force behind the largest redevelopment project in the history of Jackson, Mississippi, the Old Capital Green project (with Frederic Schwartz Architects). Mr. Brown is an appointed member of the United States Green Building Council and has been featured on Sundance Channel’s Big Ideas for a Small Planet.
Interviews will be made available upon request.
Media Contact: Ken Juneau (318)-715-0802
Later this week, the public will have the opportunity to assist a team of world-renowned professionals in designing two major infrastructure projects on North MacArthur Drive and Bolton Avenue. Both projects seek to transform these corridors by enhancing streetscapes, improving vehicular and pedestrian safety, and expanding opportunities for private-sector development. “This is not a master planning project,” said Alexandria Mayor Jacques Roy. “This is an infrastructure construction and public safety project.”
According to the Federal Department of Transportation, for every $1 million invested in public infrastructure, there is a long-term return of $6.2 million. The short-term benefit to the local economy, according to the Chief Economist at Moody’s, is typically $2 for every $1 spent on infrastructure. Additionally, the projects will immediately create several direct and indirect jobs, including approximately 100 construction jobs.
“Investing in infrastructure is one of the most effective ways to ensure we’re receiving a return,” said Mayor Roy. “Without a doubt, both North MacArthur Drive and Bolton Avenue have serious infrastructure deficiencies that need to be corrected. If we fail to properly address these deficiencies, we are only prolonging problems of blight and disinvestment, problems that burden all of us in Alexandria. Infrastructure spending is almost always appropriate, but more so in downward economic times.”
North MacArthur Drive:
According to the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, North MacArthur Drive has an abnormally high accident rate and is one of the most dangerous roadways in the region. Interviews with business owners, hotel managers, and other property owners suggest that the safety of North MacArthur Drive is a critical concern.
Improving the safety, the functionality, and the aesthetic of North MacArthur Drive is of regional importance. Nearly one-third of the region’s hotel rooms and two of Alexandria’s three convention centers are located on North MacArthur Drive. “It’s sometimes easy to overlook, especially for those of us who live here, but North MacArthur Drive is Alexandria’s front door,” Mayor Roy said. “It’s where most of our guests stay overnight; it’s where most of our conventions and conferences are held; and it’s a primary gateway into the city.” Roy credits local economic development expert, Rhonda Reap-Curiel, with this corridor. Roy further noted the North MacArthur corridor was the actual progenitor of the SPARC Initiative.
During the last three decades, North MacArthur Drive has experienced significant changes, most notably, the replacement of large traffic circle at the intersection of Bolton Avenue and the construction of Interstate 49. Both of these projects, along with the expansion and growth that occurred along Highway 28 West, have created challenges for development. Today, a number of properties along North MacArthur Drive are vacant, blighted, and in disrepair, another reason why the City’s SPARC Initiative identified the need for intervention and infrastructure investment.
SPARC assigned and the Alexandria City Council budgeted $5 million for this infrastructure project, nearly 90% of which will be used for construction. During the next four months, a team led by architect Frederic Schwartz will extensively survey and analyze the project area, including but not limited to traffic studies, access management, traffic light synchronization, street lighting, drainage, traffic patterns, and accident “hot spots.” Mr. Schwartz and members of his team will also continue to conduct interviews with key stakeholders, business and property owners, and area residents, in an effort to ensure that the construction project is informed by and best reflects the needs of those most affected.
In addition to improving safety, Mr. Schwartz will also provide plans and construction documents for beautification and streetscape enhancement.
The North MacArthur Drive project is expected to break ground within the next eleven months.
Bolton Avenue:
For more than a decade, the need for intervention on Bolton Avenue has been established, including in the 1999 Alexandria Urban Master Plan and the 2003 McElroy Plan, both of which were adopted by the Alexandria City Council.
More than three decades ago, Bolton Avenue was Alexandria’s primary commercial hub, home to numerous retail stores, professional offices, and an exceptional art deco movie theater. It bisected a thriving, middle-class neighborhood in the center of Alexandria. However, with the opening of the Alexandria Mall in the early 1970s, Bolton Avenue lost many of its anchor stores, and ever since, it has been unable to attract any significant commercial development. These conditions were exacerbated by the construction of Interstate 49, which dramatically reduced the area’s connectivity with Downtown and isolated an entire neighborhood.
Today, Bolton Avenue is plagued by blight, disrepair, and crime. Because of Bolton Avenue’s central location and its importance as a transportation corridor, these problems are highly-visible. “Bolton Avenue is at the heart of Alexandria,” said Mayor Roy. “It is a state highway, and its problems not only affect the quality of life of those who live nearby; it affects us regionally.”
In order to address these issues, SPARC assigned and the Alexandria City Council budgeted $2.5 million for the Bolton Avenue infrastructure project, nearly 90% of which will be used for construction. The project will be led by Jeffrey Carbo, an award-winning landscape architect who grew up less than a mile away from Bolton Avenue.
Throughout the next four months, Mr. Carbo and his team will work with key stakeholders, business and property owners, and area residents in order to design a series of infrastructure improvements along Bolton Avenue. These improvements will not only aim to enhance and beautify the streetscape; they will also aim to improve safety.
“Bolton Avenue is a unique challenge,” Mayor Roy said. “We can’t simply plant a few trees or brick a couple of intersections and expect anything to change. Every decision we make on Bolton Avenue needs to begin with the question, ‘Will this make the neighborhood a safer place to call home?’ We talk a lot about smart growth, but we need to also begin investing in safe growth. My office issued an Executive Order, in 2009, with this corridor and District 1’s problems in mind.”
Since the 1970s, municipalities and law enforcement agencies have used Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) techniques to reduce crime by making targeted infrastructure investments in the built environment.
“Once Bolton Avenue is restored and once it becomes safer and more inviting, I think people will realize that it really is a great street with some beautiful, historic buildings,” said Mayor Roy. “With the right investments in infrastructure, Bolton Avenue has a lot of potential. We can no longer afford to wait. If we ignore these problems, they will only get worse, and they will cost us dearly in the future.”
Media Contact: Ken Juneau (318)-715-0802
Historic Deal Calls for up to $50M in Private Investment, the Creation of Nearly 300 New Jobs and Over $500M in Economic Impact Over Ten Years, and Catalytic Improvements in Infrastructure, Representing the Second-Largest Single Private-Sector Investment Ever in Downtown Alexandria
Memorandum of Understanding Signed with Hospitality Initiatives Partnership
Last week in Phoenix, Arizona, Alexandria Mayor Jacques M. Roy, City Councilman Harry Silver, and GAEDA Director Clifford Moller signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Roland Fontaine, the CEO of Creative Analytical Solutions and a principal of Hospitality Initiatives Partnership (H.I.P.), a team of nationally-known and award-winning architects, hoteliers, and developers who joined together to propose a mega-million dollar deal in response to the City’s Downtown Hotels Initiative.
“During the last decade, the public spent millions and millions on a hotel and convention center, but we’ve never been able to completely capture the value of this investment,” said Mayor Jacques Roy. “Our aims were clear: First, we wanted a solution that minimized the public risk. We wanted to leverage the investment we have already made in order to attract private dollars and create a private deal, not a public hotel complex. Second, if the public needed to fill ‘a gap,’ then we wanted to make sure that any additional public investment would be infrastructure owned by the City—and supportive of the deal, not part of or tending to interpose the public in hotel operations. Third, we wanted to attract real private dollars, not just tax credit money. We never wanted to buy another hotel or get deeper into the hotel business. We want out of the business. To win this project, you had to put up real dollars and have an actionable plan driven by private dollars. This is a stark contrast to touted deals all around the nation, which rely heavily and in some cases exclusively on the public.”
H.I.P. is driven by David Rau of 3North Architects, Paul Cooper of Lifestyle Hospitality, and Roland Fontaine of Creative Analytical Solutions. H.I.P. has already, on this project, attracted equity, debt, and/or tax credit interest from 29 
different firms.
Two months ago, Mr. Rau, who crafted the master site plan, was honored at the annual conference of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for his work in the $120 million renovation and reopening of the Bedford Springs Resort, a sprawling and historic resort in South Central Pennsylvania. Mr. Rau and his colleagues have worked on major hotel projects throughout the nation, including Pinehurst in North Carolina and the Boorshead in Virginia.
Paul Cooper has over 18 years of experience in the hospitality industry and has managed nearly $500 million in hotel assets.
Roland Fontaine is the CEO of Creative Analytical Solutions and offers more than 40 years of experience in the hospitality industry. Prior to forming Creative Analytical Solutions, a company that has completed quality hotel projects in several states, Mr. Fontaine held executive-level positions at Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton, and Doubletree Hotels.
The Downtown Hotels Initiative, which was created by the Mayor and City staff, was launched in March 2009. It yielded proposals from firms across the nation at no cost to the taxpayer. Two months ago, these proposals were judged by a Selection Committee composed of members of the Alexandria/Pineville Convention and Visitors Bureau, GAEDA, the Hotel/Motel Association, the Alexandria City Council, and the Roy Administration. After extensive review, the Selection Committee decided to shortlist two firms.
“H.I.P. is proposing one of the largest private-sector investments in the history of Downtown Alexandria,” said Mayor Roy. “This isn’t just a short-term solution. This is thinking big about the future of Alexandria as the multi-parish, regional hub city it is. Consistent with my campaign promises, we needed to think about how to push Alexandria’s place in the state given the geography and resources we have.”
Council President Roosevelt Johnson echoed similar sentiments. “I have tried to move the City forward by pushing tourism and marketing our area,” said Johnson. “This is a big step, and with the marketing piece outlined in the MOU, we are on the right track.”
“Most importantly, H.I.P. isn’t asking the City to get deeper into the hotel business,” said Mayor Roy. “They’re asking us to get out of that business and to, instead, augment our investment in surrounding public infrastructure. We needed to do this anyway.”
H.I.P.’s proposal calls for approximately $40-$50 million in renovations to both the Hotel Bentley and the Alexander Fulton, including extensive new construction that will reorient the Bentley’s entrance onto Jackson Street and create a new pedestrian plaza between the Bentley, the Fulton, and the Riverfront Center.
H.I.P’s proposal does not require the City to purchase or lease any portion of the Bentley, though it does offer an opportunity for over 10,000 square feet of office space. The proposal does not require the City to relocate offices or demolish City Hall.
Sherri Smith of the APA-CVB is excited about these possibilities. Smith lauded the deal, offering a note of caution on ensuring the Alexandria Riverfront Center remains the preeminent concern. “I think that with both hotels in full operation, the CVB can do its job in a way I haven’t been able to do since we have been here. This initiative will help all hotel properties within the City, and hopefully region, attract better conventions and tourist business.”
Said Mayor Roy, “H.I.P. is also offering a long-term vision. From the beginning, we all agreed that we should be focused on locating a sustainable solution. Over a decade ago, when the City and the State built the Riverfront Center, they did so because they believed in the viability of the Hotel Bentley and the former Holiday Inn (today the Fulton). But we never had a master site plan or a cohesive plan for property management. Since the Riverfront Center opened, the Fulton has changed management three times, and the Bentley has changed ownership and management three times. We knew the only way these three assets, two of which are owned by the public, could succeed individually is if they also succeeded together.”
H.I.P. plans to invest approximately $40-$50 million purchasing and renovating both the Hotel Bentley and the Alexander Fulton, including the construction at the Bentley of a new 4,000 square foot restaurant, 3,500 square foot porte cochere, and a 2,000 square foot spa. They also plan to develop both retail and restaurant opportunities that would front a newly-created town plaza, located on the present-day parking lot of the Fulton and the present-day back entrance of the Hotel Bentley. The Bentley’s entrance is to be reoriented to face Jackson Street and the new town plaza. The City will invest in infrastructure improvements to the streets and offer the value of the Alexander Fulton in order to make way for private-sector investment. The City will also consider, if justified, construction of a parking garage, capital improvements to the City-owned portions of the Fulton, and other capped incentives. All of these represent the core components of the first phase of the plan.
As a supplementary component, in phase two, H.I.P.’s proposal calls for the private-sector development of a 32,000 square foot residential tower connected to the new parking garage. Phase two also calls for the creation of an additional 18,000 square foot green space, “Cathedral Park,” which would face the entrance of St. Francis Xavier Cathedral on Fourth Street and the side of Emmanuel Baptist Church on Jackson Street and would create the opportunity for the construction of ten townhouses.
H.I.P. estimates an overall economic impact of more than $500 million over the next ten years and anticipates the hiring of nearly new 300 employees, stabilized, after ten years.
Bob Dean, owner of the Hotel Bentley, said this week, “We are making real progress.”
Councilman Harry Silver said, “This is the real deal. It is a commitment to what we can be as a community—what we should be. It is thinking in phases down the road, not just tomorrow. I am so pleased with this process. If this doesn’t get it, nothing will.”
Councilman Silver cautioned there is work to be done, but the pieces are in place.
** Click on thumbnails for full-size renderings.
We did not receive any questions from interested firms regarding the RFQ for Bolton Avenue and North MacArthur Drive. The deadline for asking questions about the RFQ has now expired.
However, if you have questions about the process (and not the project), we will continue to accept them. Simply e-mail moed@cityofalex.com
