Project improves downtown economy
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on February 22, 2016 1:46 PM
By all indications, Streetscape worked.
There is more private investment happening downtown, more property coming into new ownership and less job less than there has been in previous years within the boundaries of the Municipal Service District.
As a result of Goldsboro's Streetscape project, which saw millions of dollars in improvements to public infrastructure, the downtown area's economy has done better in the past six months than it did the previous two years.
A recent report shows a more than 426 percent increase in private investment downtown during the last six months when compared to private investments made during the previous fiscal year.
In total, roughly $15 million in public funds was invested in the downtown area during the most recent Streetscape project.
The report, which was sent to the United States Department of Transportation, tracked numbers in several categories that indicate economic success of an area, such as the number of building renovations, new jobs created, new businesses opening and more.
Periods from July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014; July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015; and July 1, 2015, to Dec. 1, 2015, were tracked in how these categories performed during these periods.
In the last six months alone, there was a 426 percent increase in private investment in the area when compared to private investments made during the previous year.
"(During this time) we have 24 building renovations already in these six months, 37 new jobs, a net gain of 35 jobs (two jobs were lost), a net gain of six businesses (one business closed), one business expansion, $4.3 million in public investment and nearly $2.2 million in private investment," said Downtown Goldsboro Development Corporation Director Julie Metz.
The second of the three time periods that were measured, from July 1, 2014, to June 30, 2015, was measured while the downtown Streetscape project was still under way. But Streetscape -- which saw three roundabouts installed, four pieces of public art work, a new fountain, streets resurfaced and sidewalks redone -- did not finish until the end of October 2015.
This means private investors began coming to downtown before Streetscape was finished.
"I think a lot of people were holding tight during the construction to make any investment in their properties," Ms. Metz said.
There was a 60 percent decrease in public investment during the same time period, because the TIGER grant funds cycled out as Streetscape finished.
When numbers for the most recent six months of data are compared to what is called the "baseline" year -- from July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014, prior to Streetscape beginning -- the numbers still trend upwards, but not as much.
Private investment increased by 113 percent when compared to the baseline year, while there was a 12 percent decrease in new jobs and a 41 percent decrease in new businesses downtown.
But, during that same timeframe, there was an 88 percent decrease in the number of jobs lost and an 86 percent decrease in the number of businesses that closed.
From July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014, there was slightly more than $1 million in private investment. During the past six months, there was slightly more than $2.1 million in private investment, effectively doubling the investment taking place downtown.
"We've had 29 new businesses open since the TIGER grant announcement was made in September 2013, and 26 new property acquisitions," Ms. Metz said. "Property and business owners are making improvements to their building facades. Currently, six of the new property acquisitions will result in 11 new upper-story residences, and downtown businesses have reported an increase in sales since this time last year. Several of them have reported a double increase. In fact, I have one business that said they sold more in one day (recently) than they did in an entire month last year."