Date: 11/12/15, 6pm

Location: Paul Davis Restoration warehouse at 2111 N. Liberty Street

The purpose of the meeting was to share news of projects and efforts in the community, and election new individuals to the Board of Directors. Alyssa Key of Love Brigade discussed her new project at 1st & Main, "Main Space", results of the Jesse B Dupont Fund housing analysis were presented, and a Year-in-Review was conducted, along with Board elections.

Alyssa Key, owner of Love Brigade fashion label, was the first presenter, who introduced herself and shared her plans for Main Space, at 1st & Main. Alyssa explained how she's spent time in the neighborhood previously, has a long history of renovating properties, and has a successful fashion label. The building will have a multi-use event space and Southern Roots cafe on the the 1st floor, and will house Love Brigade headquarters on the 2nd floor, along with space for Crux Collective, a local creative agency. This would be Southern Roots second location, with their existing space is in Riverside, and Crux Collective would be expanding into Main Space, with their current location, which they will keep, on E. 8th Street. There may be space for other entities on the 2nd floor as well. The time line goals for the project is Spring 2016 for the 2nd floor, and Summer 2016 for the 1st floor. The project is being self-financed.

During this presentation, Kiley Carter of Crux Collective, also announced that Bmorcreative, an interior design studio, will be opening on E. 8th Street, as well as Motion Sweets, which also has a store front in Riverside.

Bill Hoff, outgoing SPAR President, then shared highlights of the Jesse B Dupont Fund Market Value Analysis study of housing in Jacksonville. The study, first announced at the SPAR Annual Community Meeting in 2014, took about a year to complete, and was released in October 2015. The study was commissioned to help guide policy and public and private investment, to neighborhoods that would show the greatest positive impact. The study results were very detailed, which included a number of color coded maps, broken down block by block, which visually showed the health of neighborhoods, employment centers, affordability, investor activity, and many other categories. The full study results (PDF) are available to the public by emailing SPAR, at [email protected].

At this time, two candidates for the Board of Directors were introduced: Charles Garrison, a new candidate, and Michelle Tappouni, running for a second term. Bios of each candidate and voting ballots were previously distributed to SPAR members. Each candidate shared a little bit about themselves and answered questions from the floor. Voting by members commenced.

While members filled out their ballots and submitted them to be counted, Christina Parrish, SPAR Executive Director, conducted a Year-in-Review of SPAR activities, briefly touching on a wide variety of on-going work, projects, and events in the community, both general and specific. Including but not limited to: policy advocacy with local government, partnering with other local community groups, hosting community events and forums, coordinating with law enforcement, media coverage, and supporting local business.

After, Jaimee Stewart, of the SPAR Board, announced that both of the candidates were elected to serve on the Board.

At the end of the meeting, Crux Collective shared a videography of the recently held Jacksonville PorchFest 2015 and Bill Hoff was presented with a "Thank you" for gift for serving as SPAR President for the last 3 years.

About 90 people attended the meeting, ending at 7:45pm