PENSACOLA, Fla. — Businessman and philanthropist Quint Studer had a vision for downtown Pensacola, one that would make it attractive to young people and entrepreneurs. He had the personality and drive to communicate that vision. He also had the resources to get the revitalization effort off the ground.
Of the questions submitted following the end of a two-day One Acadiana Leadership Exchange trip to Pensacola — home to a vibrant and picturesque downtown in which motorists stop for pedestrians and streets are clear of even the smallest trash — the most common one was how Lafayette can find that one benefactor who can spark significant change.
Who can be Lafayette’s Quint Studer?
Is there an extremely wealthy person in Lafayette who is willing to invest and create a coalition in the city, its downtown and other areas to make it a vibrant city? Or could it be a group to come together and make those impactful moves?
Among the Lafayette contingent was Ravi Daggula, who has led a charge of investing in properties across Lafayette this year, including three in the downtown area at a cost of over $3 million, along with being a partner in the Vermilion Lofts.
Daggula, a native of India who owns the Mouton Plantation, and his group of investors have a deal in place to purchase the building at 1001 Jefferson St. that’s listed for $1.45 million, and they intend to invest $6 million to $8 million by the end of the year.
“Quint put the people together and inspired them,” Daggula said. “He was the gel that brought everyone together. The city cannot be built by one person, but if they can see me — this guy who’s coming from another country — doing things, they can be like, 'Why are we not doing it ourselves?' That is what I want to bring to the table.”
A lively downtown is one of the four pillars Studer identifies for a vibrant community that he constantly references and points out early in his book, “Building a Vibrant Community.” The other three are: civic engagement, education and economic development.
Studer, a former special education teacher who rose up to be head of two hospitals before starting a health care consulting firm that he eventually sold, became a philanthropist in Pensacola, even going as far as launching a contest to award $50,000 for the best business idea to help spur development near the intersection that was deemed the most impactful in downtown.
Lafayette does not have an equivalent to Studer, noted Anita Begnaud, CEO of the Downtown Development Authority, but has investors such as Daggula; downtown property owners Mike Delcambre and Ryan Pecot; and downtown-based architect Eric Crozier, who have contributed to downtown’s progress.
In the past five years, downtown Lafayette’s momentum has looked like this: 200 residential units with another 295 planned; 90% office space occupancy; and 500 new employees, according to Downtown Development Authority data.
“We keep saying we don’t have a Quint,” Begnaud said. “We are missing those other people from joining us in that effort. We are doing it ourselves at the scale that we can, but there’s no denying that $50 million in three years is a lot different than $6 million to $8 million by the end of 2022. We can keep at this pace — and we’re going to make a difference — and they’ll come join us eventually.”
Curation and placemaking
In Pensacola, where efforts to increase vibrancy downtown have been ongoing for over a decade, its downtown was the Reader’s Choice winner for Florida’s Greatest Place in 2017. Its beginnings can be traced to developing one intersection — at Palafox and Main streets — that at the time was the home of two empty buildings and two empty lots.
As things grew, Studer and others began a placemaking process — the Monopoly board-type strategy of deciding what should go where to be the most effective.
Daggula, whose group owns the Dat Dog building on the edge of downtown Lafayette, said he has followed a similar process in finding a tenant for the building’s front space. He bought it in January for $1.645 million but has yet to fill the downstairs.
He admitted he’s losing $8,000 a month as a result, but he would like to find someone to open a brewery there or something that will stay there. A tenant could be signed in the coming days, he said.
“A lot of people approached me for a lot of different things,” he said. “I want to do what I want to do. What I’m trying to do is do something to elevate the game. So I took a loss so I don’t rent it to someone who’s going to pick up and leave. God gave me the resources to do that, but I am creating an example. It’s just picking and choosing, just like (Studer) said.”
Pensacola also benefited from Studer’s sense of urgency — what he called his irrational fear of death — and his life experiences as the son of a General Motors worker who spent 10 years teaching special education before entering the health care field. He’s also in his 40th year of recovery from alcoholism.
Studer advised Lafayette leaders to celebrate their wins, and he lauded E.J. Krampe’s investment in 68-unit The Lofts at the Municipal, a $17 million investment that is the largest downtown residential project to date.
But it’s that sense of urgency — Begnaud recalled how former One Acadiana CEO Jason El Koubi often said complacency is the region’s Achilles' heel — that has led Studer to spearhead the effort to make Pensacola a vibrant city.
“I’m trying to do everything I can while I’m alive to make a difference,” Studer said. “What I’ve learned in my recovery journey is the only way you keep something is by giving it away. And research will tell you the best way to feel better about yourself is to serve others.”