2 minute read
From the Mayor
from theMAYOR
With exciting things to do downtown, more people want to live there — and the more people who live downtown, the more of a stake people take in the area.
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Here we grow again!
BY MAYOR KENT GUINN
Now that we’ve all caught our breath after having enjoyed the latest round of developments in the downtown area, it’s time to buckle up and get ready for some more.
It seems like when it comes to downtown development, we pause every couple of years, then everyone gets back to the drawing board. I’m excited to say that’s where we are again, and a number of projects are coming to life that will continue this fantastic trajectory we’ve been on for many years.
The first one worth mentioning is a project care of Angie Lewis and Thad Boyd, who are working with Ken Ausley to build two-story townhomes right across the street from City Hall.
In addition, a developer from Tampa is developing three blocks in the downtown area that will include commercial property, some retail, a hotel and quite a bit of residential space.
We walked out of a recent meeting and I asked, “What’s our timeline on this?” and he said, “We’re ready now.”
Actually, the developer has been working on the project for two years, and it looks like groundbreaking should take place sometime during the first quarter of 2022. Three blocks of development will certainly be a significant contribution to downtown and is all part of the master plan we have been using as our playbook, so to speak.
We’re doing a good job of following that playbook and the result is a vibrant downtown that comes to life more and more each year. The Mellow Mushroom is sprouting out of the ground right across from the Marion
Theatre, and a new Tex-Mex restaurant is coming soon to the former Bank of America building across the street from Harry’s. These are exciting times as we witness the growth of downtown, but the best part may be the growth in residential units. With exciting things to do downtown, more people want to live there — and the more people who live downtown, the more of a stake people take in the area. As a result, downtown becomes not just a place for shoppers and diners, but a real neighborhood in which people have a vested interest.
As the number of downtown residences grow, the quality of life in downtown grows and the two feed off each other, creating a snowball effect that results in the vibrant downtown many of us have dreamed about for decades. We are on the cusp of something unique here, something that all Ocalans can take pride in.
After this next round of development, there will be more to follow. We stand on the shoulders of giants who created this vision a long time ago and set the master plan in motion with baby steps that have evolved into great leaps.
At one point in the not-too-distant past, downtown Ocala seemed like other downtown areas: mostly abandoned and never a destination point. That has changed, and it’s only going to get better.
