CRA Minutes 08/11/2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Thonlas R. Kohler Thomas R. Kohler joined Real Estate Research Consultants. Inc.. as Senior Vice President. in early 2002. Mr. Kohler culminated 26 years of public service as a senior executive with the City of Or- lando. over 22 years of lhat time serving as Executive Director of Orlando's Dow!1lown Develop- ment Board and In his as director of lhese t\\ 0 pub- I ic organizations. he was involved in the planning. programming and development of over $500.000.000 in public and privale ventures. As a senior staff member to three mayoral administra- tions. Mr. Kohler was an integral part of almost every major development project in the City of Orlando on:r the past 25 years. Thc projects have included strcetscapes and infrastructure construction. the Orlando Arena (now known as the TD Waterhouse Centre). the new Hall and County Courthouse. the County Regional History Center and Hcritage Square. restoration of Lake Eola Park. the crcation of a charter school. development of homeless facilities and cultural arts venues. as well as an 80.000 square foot exhibition/conference center. In the area of transportation. he was project director for the downtown transit circulator system known as Lymmo. involved in the development of seven parking garages and a team member providing direction on the programming and design for the proposed Regionallntermodal Transportation Center. In addition to his involvement with these public projects. Mr. Kohler was instrumental in develop- ing partnerships with the private sector that culminated in the construction of threc hotels (totaling over 700 rooms); a 90.000 square foot retail complex and six multi-family. market-rate. n:sidential structures that represent over 1.600 units and $180 million in downtown investment. Mr. Kohler's expertise in public/private partnership negotiation led to his appointment by Orlando's Mayor Hood to head the City's team in negotiating the successful closure of the 1.000 acre Orlando Naval Training Center and subsequent sale to a national developer. This process included determining value of base facilities. developing a concept development plan based on "smart growth/new urbanism" principles. creating a process to insure maximum developer interest. negoti- ating a purchase price from the Navy and ultimate developer selection and sale of site. The com- plexities of this process included extensive, multi-jurisdictional. citizen participation. homeless and environmental mitigation options and the simultaneous negotiations with four pre-qualified devel- opment teams. The success of the process has been nationally recognized in various publications. Real Estate Research Consultants. Inc. also served as consultant to the city. Mr. Kohler's extensive experience in community building includes expertise in the following: · Strategic planning and public policy · Small area and macro-level planning · Project implementation strategies · Management of public/private negotiations · Community sustainability analysis · Public participation techniques · Tax increment financing as a development tool · Federal funding programs We put the knowledge in your hands...