J Magazine Winter 2019

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
By Lilla Ross
Building a
Downtown
community
Creating a vibrant neighborhood is
a calling for Cathedral District-Jax
n the 1960s, St. John’s Episcopal Cathedral
I decided to invest in Downtown Jacksonville. The
initial efforts occurred under the leadership of
Dean Robert Parks, who built three high-rises for seniors
and a rehabilitation center.
GINNY
MYRICK
WORK: President & CEO
of Cathedral District-Jax
FROM: Syracuse, N.Y.
LIVES IN: St. Nicholas
They have continued under
Dean Kate Moorehead with the
establishment of Cathedral District-Jax,
a nonprofit under the
leadership of Ginny Myrick.
The mission of Cathedral District-Jax
is to help develop a residential
neighborhood around the Cathedral. Its first project was the acquisition
of the old Community Connections property at 325 E. Duval St. The
property was entangled with loans in default and state restrictions that
limited how it could be developed. Myrick was able to untangle it all,
and Vestcor has now taken on the project to develop workforce and
affordable housing. Vestcor has bought 75 percent of the property
and is working toward closing on the remaining 25 percent.
I sat down with Dean Kate and Ginny to talk about their
vision for the Cathedral District and Downtown.
Dean Kate: It’s a fascinating time Downtown. We have people
who are leaving and people who are expanding and developing. We
are standing strong, especially with First Baptist selling 10 blocks. The
Cathedral has really been about feeling called by God to be Downtown.
We believe God is calling us to create a community and a neighborhood.
In the ’60s and ’70s, the Cathedral stayed when all that urban
flight was going on. We built all these nonprofits around us in an effort
to do Jesus’ work, but what we didn’t realize was we were creating
urban blight because there was no tax base. So, all of our properties
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J MAGAZINE | WINTER 2019