New Bern, NC

Founded in 1710 at the confluence of the

Trent and Neuse Rivers

Major port city until the early 1900’s

North Carolina’s first Colonial Capitol

and first State Capital

Tryon Palace

Captured by Union forces

March 14, 1862

Occupied by the Union

for the duration of the

war

Architecture spanning

three centuries

The New Bern Coat of Arms

•In 1896, the Council of Burgess presented the armorial bearings and

colors of Bern, Switzerland to the City symbolizing the strong

bond of friendship between two cities

New Bern owes its reputation as the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola

to pharmacist Caleb Bradham who concocted the drink in 1898

Middle Street, early 1900’s

Middle Street (main street)

1970’s

South Front Street

interior blocks

Vacant spaces

Factors Leading to Downtown’s Decline

• Expanding dependence on the automobile created the need for bridges and improved highways through the downtown area

• Post World War II exodus to the suburbs

• Increased dependence on trucks for the movement of goods

• Degeneration of the waterfront

• Military installations at Cherry Point accelerated growth to the northwest and south of town

….isolating downtown from the

residential area and waterfront

By the 1960’s, the high level of business activity

in the warehouses, mills, and wharfs lining the

bustling waterfront ceased to exist

Under a federal urban renewal program, all but 3 commercial buildings were demolished on a 14-acre

tract along the Trent River waterfront

New Bern’s waterfront throughout the 1970’s

Turning Liabilities Into Assets

To Encourage Investment and

Redevelopment

Many Strategies

Incremental Change

1977 Central Business District Revitalization Plan

• Develop a new market to support the existing businesses and strengthen the deteriorating tax base

• Existing market demand justified the efforts necessary to attract a market of recreation, tourism, and retirement- oriented housing

• Establish an agency to manage the revitalization effort

Resources

• Tryon Palace and other historic assets

• Access to fishing & boating

• Architecturally rich downtown

• Existing shops

• Potential marina sites

• Existing road infrastructure

• Urban renewal land

• Full service airport nearby

Swiss Bear Downtown

Development Corporation

A private 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 1979 by community leaders and government officials to develop strategies, spearhead and coordinate the revitalization of the downtown and redevelopment of its waterfront.

Other Nonprofit Partners

– Chamber of Commerce

– Tourism Development Authority

– Craven Arts Council & Gallery

– New Bern Civic Theatre

– New Bern Historical Society

– New Bern Preservation Foundation

– Tryon Palace Historic Sites & Gardens

NC Main Street City

• One of 5 selected in 1980 to be a Main Street City

• Four elements and “self-help” approach led to many strategies and incremental change

The First Decade

Municipal Service Tax District

Investment Tax Credits

Facade Incentive Grant Program

Low Interest Loan Pool

Feasibility Studies

Land Donations

Fundraising Drives Federal Grants

Over the years, the MSD

monies funded 16 blocks of

major streetscape

improvements, trees, street

furniture, new parking lots and

mid-block parks and street

banners.

The need for a coordinated program of public improvements led to the creation of

the 1990 Urban Design Plan

Priorities

• Maintain New Bern’s distinctive sense of place

• Encourage new development in the Five Points commercial area

• Appropriate siting of new in-fill projects

• Maintain open space and public access along both waterfronts

• Develop and maintain existing view corridors, street edges, and building scale

• Integrate the urban renewal area

Major downtown streetscape improvements

Middle at Pollock Street

Broad Street

corridor

Union Point Park

Five Points

Broad Street gateway

UDP - A Catalyst for Major

Investments in the 1990’s

• 8 blocks of streetscape improvements

• Underground utilities,

• New Court House Annex

• $1.6M improvements to Union Point Park

Middle Street

Middle Street (after)

Union Point Park

Put Your Mark On The Park campaign raised $350,000 assisting the City with $1.6M in major park improvements –

new bulkhead, railing, promenade and restrooms

Broad Street 2000

An important gateway into downtown…

was too wide, unimproved with many

struggling businesses and vacant

properties

2000 Urban Design Plan recommended major streetscape improvements to the Gateway corridor

from First to East Front Street completed in 2010

By 2010…

• 2 New waterfront hotels

• Millions in new construction and rehabilitation – public and private

• New $120M Neuse River Bridge

• $10M Riverfront Convention Center

• 1.5 miles of Broad Street major improvements

Public Improvements and New Development included

• 100 new and/or rehabbed commercial

buildings

• Major streetscape and park improvements throughout the downtown area

• New Trent River Bridge

• 129 waterfront residential condominiums

• $60M NC History Center

2012 Economic Impact of Travel on Craven County

• $119.32M generated in visitor spending

• Produced 1,040 jobs, with a payroll of more than $21.8M

• $8.91M state and local tax receipts generated

Formula for Success

• Public/private partnerships

• Redefined market

• Capitalizing on resources

• Nonprofit leadership

• Long range plans

• Achievable goals/objectives

Middle Street (main street)

1970’s

South Front Street

interior blocks

Vacant spaces

Downtown New Bern, NC

Current Focus

Strengthening Greater Downtown’s Growth &

Development

Five Points – The Gateway District

462 acre area west of Downtown made up of both commercial corridors/streets and historic

neighborhoods

Key Assets & Opportunities

• Historic districts & vintage housing

• Attractive waterfronts & opportunity sites

• Central location & public amenities

• Existing household & population base

• Working families

Key Economic Issues

• High unemployment & poverty

• Low education levels

• Limited homeownership

• Low housing values

• Lack of shopping & services

• Distressed Housing and numerous foreclosures in Gateway area

Streets that are too narrow for sidewalks and inadequate drainage

Craven Terrace

Trent Court

Five Points Intersection

Craven Terrance on North side of Broad Trent Court adjacent to Trent River

Under utilized and vacant commercial parcels on Broad and Queen Street major corridors

•Many Brownfield sites along Broad Street require soil remediation and other decontamination costs

.

Vacant Days Hotel Queen and Broad Intersection

2013 New Bern Gateway Renaissance Plan

Builds off recommendations of the :

• 2000 UDP and Main Street principles

• New Bern Regional Land Use Plan

• Strategic Plan for Five Points Redevelopment Area

• New Bern Pedestrian Plan

• New Bern Bicycle Plan

• Swiss Bear Five Points Project /Initiatives

VISION

• The Gateway District will thrive again as a community rooted in history but with a focus on the future.

• People of every income, age, and race will enjoy a neighborhood characterized by new parks, new retail, new gateways, new recreational paths and new cultural institutions.

MISSION • Create a realistic and implementable

revitalization strategy for the neighborhoods just west of downtown.

• Focus efforts towards brownfield sites in need of revitalization.

• Strengthen residential neighborhood with new single-family and multifamily infill.

• Connect neighborhoods and commercial streets with a network of green and public spaces.

Key Initiatives

• Establish Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District

• Estab. Canal Greenway

• Develop infill housing strategy for city-owned parcels

• Plan, design and implement gateways

• Pursue Choice Neighborhoods planning grant for Craven Terrace and Trent Court public housing

• Re-create a fountain at Pollock and Queen Streets

• Re-use flood-prone land and restore landscape

• Expand riverfront Riverwalk/promenade

• Improve and expand pedestrian network

• Improve CARTS service and transportation network

• Estab. New Bern Façade Grant Program

• Major streetscape improvements

3rd Avenue Re-alignment 2005-09

• $1.9M in CDBG and City funds used to re-align 3rd Avenue with First Street to improve infrastructure.

• 22 Derelict houses acquired and demolished, 3 rehabbed, 1 replaced along narrow unimproved street.

• Water, sewer improvements, street widened, paved with curb and gutters and realigned to connect directly to First Street.

$20M Senior Citizen Housing Project

• City approved private development project to provide 150 units

• Upon on state approval for tax credits project will begin in mid-year

Extension of Riverwalk

• $183,000 Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) grant to extend Riverwalk promenade 800 feet along Trent waterfront to include boardwalk and gazebo

Black line indicates 800 foot extension

• To deal with localized flooding, City is working with EPA and UNC Chapel Hill to make structural improvements to alleviate flooding to include two mini storm water retention ponds

Resiliency Project

NC Catalyst Grant

• $500,000 grant, $150,000

• City match to construct retention ponds and rehab 6 residences

$2,000 Legacy Tree Grant

• Creating urban forest on flooded properties purchased by the city with FEMA funds

• with the stipulation the land be used as green space

Land Swap

• Land exchange between city and property owner allows project at Queen and Pollock Streets to move forward with street improvements and re-building of historic fountain

HUD Choice Neighborhoods Grant

• $400,000 Housing and Urban Development Grant awarded to city and New Bern Housing Authority to:

• Plan development for greater Five Points area

• To revitalize and replace 700 affordable housing units.

Choice Neighborhood Planning Grant

Housing – People - Neighborhoods

• HUD’s signature place-based imitative to build ladders to the middle class.

• Choice Neighborhoods enables communities to revitalize struggling neighborhoods with distressed public housing or HUD-assisted housing

Meeting the Challenge

• Organizing a collaborative network of property owners, local governments, nonprofit agencies, concerned citizens and other stakeholders.

• Creating and implementing a plan that will transform distressed HUD housing and address the challenges in the surrounding neighborhoods.

Bottom Line

• Liabilities become community assets when a community invests in their greater downtown.

• If a community’s downtown and surrounding area is economically healthy, it has accomplished the toughest task there is to accomplish in the economic development arena.