My name is Bugra Demirel, and I am the owner of the SoMo Walls Project. I also serve as the Chairman of the Grow Tallahassee Political Action Committee, which supports local candidates who prioritize economic growth, job creation, and talent retention—and oppose those who don't. These two roles have put me in the spotlight recently, and my name and character have been dragged through the mud by a group of online bullies led by local sitting commissioner Jeremy Matlow. Since they don't seem to be losing interest in me anytime soon, I thought I’d provide some background about myself.
I came to Tallahassee from Turkey in 2005 through a student visa. The story of how and why I chose Tallahassee is for another article. English was my second language, and I had to learn it quickly, like many international students. I enrolled in Tallahassee Community College and soon transferred to Florida State University to study International Affairs and Political Science. After graduation, I worked and frequently considered relocating to South Florida, as many FSU grads do.
Instead, I chose to stay in this town because you encouraged me to do so. You said, "let's retain talent", "reduce the brain drain", "we need more entreprenuers". You told me to stay and start my business here. You said employ local residents, create something beautiful, beautify our neighborhoods, give back. So, here I am, almost two decades later, doing that. On top of that, I married my wonderful bride, who is a fourth generation Tallahassean, and now we have a beautiful child that will be the fifth generation Tallahasseean, born right here at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare by Dr. Brickler. I received tremendous support and encouragement throughout this journey from hundreds of local residents, business owners, and community leaders. But, there's an undercurrent in this community that targets new ideas, change, and success.
Now back to SoMo Walls. The project exceeded $11 million, far surpassing any private redevelopment in the South Monroe/Adams Street Corridor within the last three decades. My partners and I personally invested about $3 million, secured around $6.2 million from private bank financing, and, thanks to the Office of Economic Vitality's (OEV) public investment of $1.8 million, we were able to complete the vision in its entirety.
SoMo Walls operated transparently, and OEV's Non-Competitive Incentinve Program is available to all local businesses that meet the criteria. While $1.8 million may sound like a lot, it only accounts for 16% of the project's cost. Additionally, we pledged to repay $1 million back, reducing OEV's participation in SoMo Walls to just 7% in the grand scheme.
I didn't take the money and run. We used every single dollar to revitalize an entire city block and attract amazing tenants. I invite you to come and see what we've built in the most underinvested part of our town.
So all this to say, why am I being attacked on a weekly basis by a sitting commissioner, Jeremy Matlow and his gang of cyberbullies? An immigrant that was locally educated, chose to invest his capital locally, executed a successfull public-private partnership, employs local residents and created a family here - is that not what we want in this town?
If you are interested, let me shed more light on the group targeting me and SoMo Walls for cheap political gain, all in an effort to seize power at City Hall and scare off everyone like me that has a vision to create something beautiful in this town.