JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Kent Justice talks with Colin Tarbert, the new CEO of Jacksonville’s Downtown Investment Authority, about what DIA actually does and what’s driving the current wave of downtown activity. Tarbert explains DIA’s role as downtown’s community redevelopment agency - collecting tax increment financing from the Northbank and Southbank and reinvesting it to spur economic growth - while also serving as the city’s economic development arm focused on downtown.
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They dig into how DIA evaluates projects (often through design review within the existing zoning code), the master planning process and how new anchors like the University of Florida graduate campus are reshaping priorities, and the “scorecard” Tarbert watches - especially downtown’s growing residential population. Tarbert says Jacksonville has $2.5 billion under construction downtown, including the future Jaguars stadium and more than $1 billion in additional private development across neighborhoods from LaVilla to Brooklyn and the Southbank.
A central theme is the riverfront: Tarbert argues parks and public space are changing downtown from a 9-to-5 district into a place people come to recreate, with major investments in riverfront parks and the Riverwalk aimed at “stitching” together far-flung destinations. He also addresses the role of incentives as “proof of concept” for first-in-a-generation apartment projects, DIA’s push for a balanced housing mix (affordable/workforce/market/luxury), and practical issues like parking pricing, wayfinding, and “parking anxiety.”