BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – An agenda item on the October 7 Alachua County Commission meeting about the future of the Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area (GCRA) has led to concern at the City of Gainesville, with the GCRA office sending out an unauthorized email to a large distribution list and an email from the City Manager to City leadership about the issue.
A presentation in the backup of the meeting, which is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on October 7, goes through the history of the GCRA, which began with the formation of the Downtown Redevelopment Agency in 1979. In 2019, a “10-year” GCRA was created as a City of Gainesville department, and the boundaries of the area were expanded in 2022. The presentation states that the formation of the GCRA was “predicated on the promise of ’10 and done’” and that it would involve “transformational projects,” such as the 8th & Waldo site…