City of Gainesville - File #: 130039.

• File #: 130039.
• Version: 2
• Type: Staff Recommendation
• Status: Passed
• File created: 6/10/2013
• In control: City Manager
• On agenda: 6/20/2013
• Final action: 6/17/2013
• Title: Innovation Square - Agreement for Transfer of Land as Public Rights of Way (B) This item requests that the City enter into agreement with the Community Redevelopment Agency and the University of Florida Development Council for the construction of a public infrastructure project and transfer of privately owned land to the City as public rights of way and a park at the completion of construction.

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result
6/20/2013	2	City Commission	Approved as Recommended	Pass
6/17/2013	1	Community Redevelopment Agency	Approved as Recommended	Pass

Title
Innovation Square - Agreement for Transfer of Land as Public Rights of Way (B)

This item requests that the City enter into agreement with the Community Redevelopment Agency and the University of Florida Development Council for the construction of a public infrastructure project and transfer of privately owned land to the City as public rights of way and a park at the completion of construction.

Explanation
During 2010, after the closing and demolition of the Alachua General Hospital, the City of Gainesville, University of Florida (UF), Shands Healthcare, Inc., Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), and members of the private sector collaborated to develop a vision for the redevelopment of the vacated 16-acre property into what is now known as Innovation Square. Innovation Square represents an opportunity for the city to position itself as a leader in the innovation economy and create an ecosystem conducive to attracting and retaining technology oriented businesses to strengthen the local economy. Over the past three years several steps have been taken to lay the groundwork for this redevelopment/economic development effort, including the rezoning of the property as UMU2 (a form based code approach), the construction and establishment of the Innovation Hub, the creation of a comprehensive development framework, and the planning of utility and infrastructure projects to support building developments.

A critical step in development of Innovation Square (i.e., iSquare, iDistrict) is the thoughtful planning and development of the public realm. This act deals specifically with the conversion of land into an urban framework of streets and infrastructure, public spaces and buildings, and block and lot configurations. The urban framework, particularly the configuration of streets and blocks, provides a long-term structure for changing patterns of land use, building form and building occupancies. During 2012, the CRA began developing plans for two maj...