City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: NOVEMBER 18, 2015
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
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Consideration of the Carlyle Vitality Initiative Update and Proposed FY 2016-2017 Strategy and Estimated Budget.
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ISSUE: Consideration of a Carlyle Vitality Initiative update and proposed FY 2016-2017 strategy and estimated budget.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council receive the update and endorse the proposed program and funding strategy for activation of the Carlyle public realm.
BACKGROUND: In an effort to enhance neighborhood vitality and quality of life for Carlyle residents, employees, and visitors, as well as to improve the Carlyle area's competitiveness in the regional office market, the City Manager designated an interdepartmental/interagency team to lead a Carlyle Vitality Initiative in December 2014. The initiative is intended to focus on implementing physical and programming enhancements to the Carlyle neighborhood in order to activate the public realm. Fortunately, as part of the development approved for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office a developer contribution of $1.8 million was proposed to provide future benefits to the Carlyle area. The proposed activities and initiatives are proposed to be paid for by this fund and not the City's General Fund. It is also a reaction to changed office market conditions where neighborhood vitality is now a prime factor in office leasing decision making.
After its establishment in late 2014 the City's interagency team undertook to get stakeholder feedback and then start to implement some initial activities. Activities and accomplishments since January 2015 were:
* Held Carlyle area employee and resident stakeholder group meetings in February and March 2015 to gather input on desired programs and improvements
*...
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