Intern urges county-funded infrastructure, tax-allocation and grants to revive Town Center Mall area

Elsa Lekl, a recent Florida State University graduate and incoming Georgia Tech master's student, recommended that the county fund infrastructure improvements around the Town Center Mall area to spur economic activity. "My number 1 recommendation would be for the county to fund infrastructure improvements around the mall area," she said, listing multimodal transportation, façade improvements and better connections as specific targets.

Lekl also identified potential funding mechanisms—tax allocation districts, grant funds and other financing tools—and cautioned that interagency agreement and competition with other county projects could complicate implementation. She said prioritization and clear decisions about fund applicability would be necessary for the county to move forward.