PANAMA CITY — Reducing blight and increasing property values is the core mission of the Panama City Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), but two out of the four city CRA districts saw values decrease this year.
However, CRA staff say they are focused on improving infrastructure to help reverse the trend for its Downtown and Downtown North districts in 2016, each of which saw values decline.
“We’re really trying to establish projects infrastructure-wise,” said Assistant City Manager Jeff Tillman, who also acts as the city’s CRA director. “From what we’ve seen in other areas, in other communities, infrastructure projects have really been beneficial in increasing property values.”
The CRA’s Downtown District, which includes the Harrison Avenue corridor, saw values decline by about 1 percent this year, while the Downtown North District saw values decrease by about 3 percent.