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Commissioners review downtown building inventory, plan summer follow-up and joint meeting with Gainesville
Summary
Staff presented a downtown building inventory showing roughly 457,000 square feet of county property downtown and a planned 110,000-square-foot courthouse complex; commissioners asked for a refresher on prior plans, community engagement and possible developer outreach and agreed to a summer report-back and a joint September meeting with the City of Gainesville.
Tommy Crosby, the county’s assistant county manager, briefed the board on a downtown building inventory intended to inform capital planning for future courthouse and redevelopment decisions. Crosby described the inventory as informational only, telling commissioners the packet is a handout "so that the board can become aware of our assets downtown and what our needs are downtown" and noting the courthouse complex would be about "110,000 square feet" while the county has "a total of 457,000 square feet in the downtown area currently." (Tommy Crosby)
Commissioner Prizes asked staff to refresh the commission on previous downtown plans and reports — including the prior downtown plan and building-condition reports — and urged broad community involvement (downtown advisory board, local businesses and the public) before moving to solicit developers or an ITN. She said she wants the county to avoid duplicating past work and to invite the private sector to propose redevelopment options.
Board members agreed staff should return with an expanded summary and that the county should meet with the City of Gainesville before the September joint meeting. Crosby recommended a summer 2028 discussion and said planning or design work would not begin until an identified direction is approved; he noted design work tied to a new civil courthouse would likely occur later in the capital plan timeline.
Next steps: staff will prepare an expanded summary of prior studies, current building conditions, and options for community engagement and developer outreach ahead of a summer follow-up and the planned meeting with Gainesville.
