Design Director Geoff Dyer aims to help transform Lafayette's downtown into an urban center that will attract more residents, businesses and investment.
Geoff Dyer
The $100,000 salary for the Downtown Development Authority's newest addition, Design Director Geoff Dyer, has been approved, with funding split three ways between DDA, the Lafayette Economic Development Authority and the Lafayette Public Trust Financing Authority.
LEDA and LPTFA will contribute up to $30,000 apiece, says DDA CEO Nathan Norris, adding both entities have agreed to a one-year funding commitment for the newly created position. DDA, says Norris, will cover the remaining portion of Dyer's $100,000 salary, along with paying his benefits. The total salary package is valued at $120,000.
The Calgary-based urban designer comes to Lafayette from PlaceMakers Canada, a sister company to the urban design firm Placemakers LLC, which Norris co-founded.
"He's physically here and on the job," Norris tells ABiz. "He's moved into his house [in River Ranch] and now he's waiting on his family to move here as well."
The position was created to assist DDA in its efforts to transform Lafayette's downtown into an urban center that will attract more residents, businesses and investment. Dyer will provide conceptual plans to illustrate how proposed developments will look in their surroundings, meaning everything from the building to the sidewalks to the street will be taken into account. He'll also be responsible for outlining the rules/codes for developing downtown.
Click here for more on Dyer and what his new role with DDA entails.