CRA staff outlines hires, rental pilot and redevelopment-plan schedule as $30 million in grants are managed

Erica Grama Cagnolo, economic development director for the City of Pensacola, told the Community Redevelopment Agency that staff has added several positions and will begin providing brief project updates at each meeting to keep board members informed.

The move follows what Grama Cagnolo described as a heavy workload in 2024. "We have American Magic, Baptist, Pensacola Motor Lodge, 101 West Main, CRA plan updates, and our ongoing focus on increasing the inventory of affordable and attainable housing within the city of Pensacola, just to name a few," she said. She told the board the CRA is administering more than $30,000,000 in grant funds and about $4.5 million in annual tax-increment financing (TIF) revenues.

Why it matters: board members said the additional staff capacity is intended to let the CRA do more project-level work in-house—particularly financial analysis and housing project pro formas the city has previously contracted out—so the agency can move projects from planning toward implementation.

Key staffing changes and timing described by Grama Cagnolo: - Anna Kate Bagence has joined as economic development administrator; she started in October and has a master’s degree in economic development. - Amanda Childers started as program coordinator the day of the meeting; staff said she will support the residential rehabilitation program and joins from Habitat for Humanity. - Jacob Sutton is scheduled to begin in February as housing and development program manager; staff said the city has been recruiting for that role for about two years. - Anne Jasmine Whitmore is scheduled to begin in February as finance and compliance manager; staff said she has private-sector experience overseeing financial aspects of large projects.

Staff also presented a brief update on a proposed small-scale affordable rental program being developed with the Florida Housing Coalition. Victoria (last name not specified), who provided the program update, said the program would offer incentives for small-scale conversions—for example, a homeowner converting a property to a rental or reuse of a commercial property for multifamily housing—and that staff is working to simplify the technical program so the city can administer it with a relatively small team.

Grama Cagnolo highlighted one current grant-backed housing effort, saying the CRA recently received a defense infrastructure grant to support acquiring property for attainable housing aimed at military service members. She described the defense infrastructure award as one example of the types of grant-funded activity the new staff will manage.

On the redevelopment plan, staff said consultants have provided a draft and that the process is entering a deciding phase. The schedule presented by staff calls for one-on-one meetings between board members and the consultants in early February (noted dates were Feb. 5 or 6), a March briefing to the CRA, redevelopment-board recommendations, and a planned City Council review in June. Staff said the plan development included a listening phase with more than 2,000 public comments and a testing phase with roughly 300 additional comments.

Board members asked about whether the new hires will provide in-house capacity for pro formas and other analysis previously provided by consultants; staff responded that the incoming housing and finance hires are intended to supply that expertise. Grama Cagnolo said staff will begin each CRA meeting with brief updates on three projects, and invited board members to request more detail or individual briefings as needed.

Ending: Staff asked for feedback on the new meeting update format and reiterated contact options for board members who want deeper follow-up on any presented project.