Business View Magazine | July 2019

359 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JULY 2019 TYLER , TEXAS in our downtown core as part of that project. When you have that kind of a public/private partnership come together, and then you look at your existing assets to see where you could strategically locate these to also serve the greater economic good, that’s when really wonderful things can happen. And we were able to do that with this project.” BVM: What else is going on with downtown rejuvenation? Broussard: “The real success stories have been local families who are purchasing properties downtown and redeveloping them. One is the People’s Petroleum building; an art deco style of the 1930s that was totally restored by a family who have been in the Tyler community for many decades. They’ve also recently purchased the adjacent building, the Plaza Tower, and are working on the same type of revitalization. It’s wonderful to see people who have been in Tyler their whole lives becoming part of this renaissance. “Throughout the downtown there are mixed-use properties coming in – everything from small breweries with restaurants adjacent, to loft apartment projects. The Plaza Tower will have retail areas on the main level and office space for rent upstairs. The City of Tyler renovated Liberty Hall, an old movie theater, using a lot of private donations, and now that venue has sold out music and movie events, bringing a nighttime crowd to be part of our downtown experience.” BVM: How is the City of Tyler investing for its future? Mayor Heines: “Tyler is now decreasing in age as a population. We’re going younger because of the colleges. What is transpiring is millennial entrepreneurship in the downtown and midtown areas with business ownership and enhanced retail activity. We built a public parking garage downtown. That was a significant infrastructure investment we made with cash into the downtown area. We always try to do certain levels of public investment to encourage the private sector to move forward with their own investments.