The Florence Downtown Development Corporation (FDDC) is a non-profit organization devoted to revitalizing and restoring civic pride in Downtown Florence.
Founded in 2002, FDDC is a quasi-public organization and a
South Carolina Main Street member.
The impetus for creating the FDDC evolved from recommendations outlined in the Downtown Master Plan & City-wide Structure Plan.
Residents, dismayed by the state of Downtown, made it a priority to prepare a master plan in order to revitalize the area.
As a result, these stakeholders who desired the prosperous, attractive, and vital city center that Downtown once was, then set out to put their visions on paper.
Led by the Florence 2010 Committee and PeeDee Visions Foundation, Inc., numerous public involvement activities occurred in order to produce the 2001 document, Florence 2010, that outlines the initial strategy for revitalizing the civic, cultural, and economic life of Downtown Florence.
To this end, the plan recommended revitalization efforts be coordinated through a non-profit organization, which became FDDC.
In 2006 with the help of Hunter Interests Inc., an additional master plan was completed and bound into a three-phase document entitled the Downtown
Florence Revitalization Strategy.
This strategy, a continuation of the Downtown Master Plan, includes project feasibility studies, market data, and suggests redevelopment projects that would further the revitalization effort.
In addition, it also contains recommendations of more than $180 million worth of new private-sector projects ranging from mixed-use development to lodging facilities and eating establishments.
Therefore, FDDC’s effort to revitalize the area involves administering the Revitalization Strategy and organizing and/or implementing projects outlined in the strategy such as:
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Property acquisition
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Design guidelines
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Streetscape improvement
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Historic preservation
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Public-private partnerships
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Economic incentive programs
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Property development facilitation
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Community rebuilding