New Bern, NC - 2017 NC Main Street Conference

New Bern, NC
Founded in 1710 at the confluence of the
Trent and Neuse Rivers
Major port city until the early 1900’s
Tryon Palace
North Carolina’s first Colonial Capitol
and first State Capital
Captured by Union forces
March 14, 1862
Occupied by the Union
for the duration of the
war
Architecture
spanning
three centuries
The New Bern Coat of Arms
•In 1896, the Council of
Burgess presented the
armorial bearings and
colors of Bern,
Switzerland to the City
symbolizing the strong
bond of friendship
between two cities
New Bern owes its reputation as the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola
to pharmacist Caleb Bradham who concocted the drink in 1898
Middle Street, early 1900’s
1970’s
South Front Street
Vacant spaces
Middle Street (main street)
interior blocks
Factors Leading to Downtown’s Decline
• Expanding dependence on the automobile created the need for
bridges and improved highways through the downtown area
• Post World War II exodus to the suburbs
• Increased dependence on trucks for the movement of goods
• Degeneration of the waterfront
• Military installations at Cherry Point accelerated growth to the
northwest and south of town
….isolating downtown from the
residential area and waterfront
By the 1960’s, the high level of business activity
in the warehouses, mills, and wharfs lining the
bustling waterfront ceased to exist
Under a federal urban renewal program, all but 3
commercial buildings were demolished on a 14-acre
tract along the Trent River waterfront
New Bern’s waterfront throughout the 1970’s
Turning Liabilities Into Assets
To Encourage Investment and
Redevelopment
Many Strategies
Incremental Change
1977 Central Business District
Revitalization Plan
• Develop a new market to support the existing
businesses and strengthen the deteriorating tax
base
• Existing market demand justified the efforts
necessary to attract a market of recreation, tourism,
and retirement- oriented housing
• Establish an agency to manage the revitalization
effort
Resources
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Tryon Palace and other historic assets
Access to fishing & boating
Architecturally rich downtown
Existing shops
Potential marina sites
Existing road infrastructure
Urban renewal land
Full service airport nearby
Swiss Bear Downtown
Development Corporation
A private 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in
1979 by community leaders and government
officials to develop strategies, spearhead and
coordinate the revitalization of the downtown
and redevelopment of its waterfront.
Other Nonprofit Partners
– Chamber of Commerce
– Tourism Development Authority
– Craven Arts Council & Gallery
– New Bern Civic Theatre
– New Bern Historical Society
– New Bern Preservation Foundation
– Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens
NC Main Street City
• One of 5 selected in 1980 to be a
Main Street City
• Four elements and “self-help”
approach led to many strategies
and incremental change
The First Decade
Municipal Service Tax District
Investment Tax Credits
Facade Incentive Grant Program
Low Interest Loan Pool
Feasibility Studies
Land Donations
Fundraising Drives
Federal Grants
Over the years, the MSD
monies funded 16 blocks of
major streetscape
improvements, trees, street
furniture, new parking lots and
mid-block parks and street
banners.
The need for a coordinated program of
public improvements led to the creation of
the 1990 Urban Design Plan
Priorities
• Maintain New Bern’s distinctive sense of place
• Encourage new development in the Five Points
commercial area
• Appropriate siting of new in-fill projects
• Maintain open space and public access along both
waterfronts
• Develop and maintain existing view corridors, street
edges, and building scale
• Integrate the urban renewal area
Major downtown streetscape
improvements
Middle at Pollock Street
Broad Street
corridor
Union
Point
Park
Five Points
Broad Street
gateway
UDP - A Catalyst for Major
Investments in the 1990’s
• 8 blocks of streetscape
improvements
• Underground utilities,
• New Court House Annex
• $1.6M improvements to Union Point
Park
Middle Street
Middle Street (after)
Union
Point
Park
Put Your Mark On
The Park
campaign raised
$350,000
assisting the City
with $1.6M in
major park
improvements –
new bulkhead,
railing, promenade
and restrooms
Broad
Street
2000
An important gateway into downtown…
was too wide, unimproved with many
struggling businesses and vacant
properties
2000 Urban Design Plan recommended major
streetscape improvements to the Gateway corridor
from First to East Front Street completed in 2010
By 2010…
• 2 New waterfront hotels
• Millions in new construction and
rehabilitation – public and private
• New $120M Neuse River Bridge
• $10M Riverfront Convention Center
• 1.5 miles of Broad Street major
improvements
Public Improvements and New Development
included
• 100 new and/or rehabbed commercial
buildings
• Major streetscape and park improvements
throughout the downtown area
• New Trent River Bridge
• 129 waterfront residential condominiums
• $60M NC History Center
2012 Economic Impact of Travel
on Craven County
• $119.32M generated in visitor spending
• Produced 1,040 jobs, with a payroll of more
than $21.8M
• $8.91M state and local tax receipts generated
Formula for Success
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Public/private partnerships
Redefined market
Capitalizing on resources
Nonprofit leadership
Long range plans
Achievable goals/objectives
1970’s
South Front Street
Vacant spaces
Middle Street (main street)
interior blocks
Downtown New Bern, NC
Current Focus
Strengthening Greater
Downtown’s Growth &
Development
Five Points – The Gateway
District
462 acre area west of Downtown made up of both
commercial corridors/streets and historic
neighborhoods
Key Assets & Opportunities
• Historic districts & vintage housing
• Attractive waterfronts & opportunity
sites
• Central location & public amenities
• Existing household & population
base
• Working families
Key Economic Issues
• High unemployment &
poverty
• Low education levels
• Limited homeownership
• Low housing values
• Lack of shopping & services
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Distressed Housing and
numerous foreclosures
in Gateway area
Streets that are too
narrow for sidewalks
and inadequate
drainage
Craven Terrace
Trent Court
Five Points Intersection
Craven Terrance on North side of Broad
Trent Court adjacent to Trent River
Under utilized and vacant commercial parcels on
Broad and Queen Street major corridors
•Many Brownfield sites along
Broad Street require soil
remediation and other
decontamination costs
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Vacant Days Hotel
Queen and Broad Intersection
2013 New Bern Gateway
Renaissance Plan
Builds off recommendations of the :
• 2000 UDP and Main Street principles
• New Bern Regional Land Use Plan
• Strategic Plan for Five Points Redevelopment
Area
• New Bern Pedestrian Plan
• New Bern Bicycle Plan
• Swiss Bear Five Points Project /Initiatives
VISION
• The Gateway District will thrive again as a
community rooted in history but with a
focus on the future.
• People of every income, age, and race
will enjoy a neighborhood characterized
by new parks, new retail, new gateways,
new recreational paths and new cultural
institutions.
MISSION
• Create a realistic and implementable
revitalization strategy for the neighborhoods
just west of downtown.
• Focus efforts towards brownfield sites in need
of revitalization.
• Strengthen residential neighborhood with
new single-family and multifamily infill.
• Connect neighborhoods and commercial
streets with a network of green and public
spaces.
Key Initiatives
• Establish Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District
• Estab. Canal Greenway
• Develop infill housing strategy for city-owned
parcels
• Plan, design and implement gateways
• Pursue Choice Neighborhoods planning grant
for Craven Terrace and Trent Court public
housing
• Re-create a fountain at Pollock and Queen
Streets
• Re-use flood-prone land and restore
landscape
• Expand riverfront Riverwalk/promenade
• Improve and expand pedestrian network
• Improve CARTS service and transportation
network
• Estab. New Bern Façade Grant Program
• Major streetscape improvements
rd
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Avenue Re-alignment 2005-09
• $1.9M in CDBG and City funds used to realign 3rd Avenue with First Street to improve
infrastructure.
• 22 Derelict houses acquired and demolished,
3 rehabbed, 1 replaced along narrow
unimproved street.
• Water, sewer improvements, street widened,
paved with curb and gutters and realigned to
connect directly to First Street.
$20M Senior Citizen Housing
Project
• City approved private development
project to provide 150 units
• Upon on state approval for tax
credits project will begin in mid-year
Extension of Riverwalk
• $183,000 Coastal Area
Management Act (CAMA) grant
to extend Riverwalk promenade
800 feet along Trent waterfront
to include boardwalk and gazebo
Black line indicates 800 foot extension
Resiliency Project
• To deal with localized flooding,
City is working with EPA and UNC
Chapel Hill to make structural
improvements to alleviate
flooding to include two mini
storm water retention ponds
NC Catalyst Grant
• $500,000 grant, $150,000
• City match to construct
retention ponds and rehab 6
residences
$2,000 Legacy Tree Grant
• Creating urban forest on flooded
properties purchased by the city
with FEMA funds
• with the stipulation the land be
used as green space
Land Swap
• Land exchange between city and
property owner allows project at
Queen and Pollock Streets to
move forward with street
improvements and re-building of
historic fountain
HUD Choice Neighborhoods Grant
• $400,000 Housing and Urban
Development Grant awarded to city
and New Bern Housing Authority to:
• Plan development for greater Five
Points area
• To revitalize and replace 700
affordable housing units.
Choice Neighborhood Planning Grant
Housing – People - Neighborhoods
• HUD’s signature place-based imitative to
build ladders to the middle class.
• Choice Neighborhoods enables
communities to revitalize struggling
neighborhoods with distressed public
housing or HUD-assisted housing
Meeting the Challenge
• Organizing a collaborative
network of property owners,
local governments, nonprofit
agencies, concerned citizens and
other stakeholders.
• Creating and implementing a
plan that will transform
distressed HUD housing and
address the challenges in the
surrounding neighborhoods.
Bottom Line
• Liabilities become community assets
when a community invests in their
greater downtown.
• If a community’s downtown and
surrounding area is economically healthy,
it has accomplished the toughest task
there is to accomplish in the economic
development arena.