INC NEWS - Durham Receives Downtown Partnerships Honorable Mention

[Blalock, Amy]

CITY OF DURHAM

Office of Public Affairs

101 City Hall Plaza

Durham, NC 27701

 

 

News Release

 

For Details, Contact:

Amy C. Blalock

Senior Public Affairs Specialist

(919) 560-4123 x 253

(919) 475-7735 (cell)

Amy.Blalock at durhamnc.gov <mailto:Amy.Blalock at durhamnc.gov> 

 

For Immediate Release:  October 28, 2008

 

Durham Receives National Honorable Mention for Downtown Public-Private
Partnership Endeavors

 

Durham, N.C. - With an ever-growing list of accolades, the City of
Durham can now add one more thanks to a recent recognition of its work
to develop public-private partnerships in a revitalized and thriving
downtown.

 

The City's Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) has been
recognized with an Honorable Mention in the Public-Private Partnership
category for the Excellence in Economic Development Awards by the
International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the world's largest,
non-profit membership organization serving the economic development
profession.  Durham won in the category of cities with a population of
200,000 and above.  

 

According to Alan DeLisle, assistant city manager for the City's OEWD,
Durham competed against cities from across the country and was judged by
a panel of economic development professionals representing communities
of all size from around the United States.  "Each year they name a
winner and an Honorable Mention in this category, so only two cities out
of the entire country receive this recognition," DeLisle said.  "Since
Durham was one of only two to receive recognition by this organization,
to me that speaks volumes as to what the rest of the country thinks
about what we're doing here in this community.  This recognition is a
testament to the vision and hard work of our public officials and City
management, investment community, downtown stakeholders, and to the OEWD
staff."

 

According to the IECD, Durham was a clear standout and won the honorable
mention because the city has undergone a visible metamorphosis over the
past five years, beginning with the creation and implementation of a
downtown master plan, which resulted in unparalleled growth from
public/private partnerships.  IECD also cited that critical to the
success of downtown's revitalization is city leaders' decision to set
aside one-cent of the city's tax rate in a fund to be used solely to
leverage downtown revitalization projects.  Money accumulated in the
downtown fund has leveraged hundreds of millions of dollars in
public-private partnership projects. It should be noted that all of the
projects are interrelated - and, to date, all are developed by local
individuals/firms.  With over $1.2 billion in new projects that are now
in design, in construction - or completed - and new construction
projects are rising on Brownfield sites with public-private partnership
projects, Durham's downtown shows the adaptability of developers to
related projects and to the introduction of social values in the
incentive mix.

 

According to Mayor William V. "Bill" Bell, development projects, which
include over 2 million square feet in historic redevelopment of old
tobacco warehouses; a new 2,800 seat performing arts center; a renovated
old ballpark where the movie "Bull Durham" was filmed; a new
transportation center; and $16 million in new downtown streetscape
improvements, truly made Durham stand out from among other cities
competing for this award.  "I am proud that the OEWD represented Durham
among our development peers from around the world," Bell said.  "So many
communities would be absolutely ecstatic to have what Durham does now in
its downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. Our residents can proud
knowing we stand head-and-shoulders above many communities for our
economic progress."

 

A representative from the City's OEWED accepted the award on the
department's behalf on Tuesday, October 21 at IEDC's annual conference
in Atlanta, Ga.  According to IEDC, this event is the world's largest
annual gathering of economic developers.  To learn more about this
organization, visit www.iedconline.org. 

 

About the Office of Economic and Workforce Development

The Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) seeks to
increase the city's tax base through several revitalization initiatives
including new development efforts in the central city area; identifies
and recruits target industries; and assesses/trains citizens to fill new
jobs.  For more information about this department, visit 
www.durhamnc.gov/departments/eed.   

 

###

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.deltaforce.net/mailman/private/inc-list/attachments/20081028/c4c9908a/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 3058 bytes
Desc: image002.jpg
URL: <http://lists.deltaforce.net/mailman/private/inc-list/attachments/20081028/c4c9908a/attachment.jpeg>