Retail-less parking garage to receive final approval

[thelakelander]

The tenant demanded high parking ratios drive me crazy.  Lakelander is right, it would be mostly dining/entertainment at the Landing, however, I see it in other developments, too.

Yes. Unless, there's a ton of foot traffic, the national tenants are typically going to require dedicated parking, whether its in downtown or the burbs.  There's little Jax can do about that at this point but find creative ways to accommodate their site location requirements.

[copperfiend]

This may be the worse publicly funded decision made downtown in years, and that's saying something.

Main St Pocket Park?

This would be worse.  The park came from a $800 FDOT grant.  Other than leveling out some retaining walls, you could easily put a building on it.  This garage requires $3.5 million from the city to make the numbers work.

True. I just cringe everytime I walk by that place.

[simms3]

I don't know what Sleiman is doing with the center now but he only purchased it for $5 million.  It cost Rouse $37.5 million to construct.

If I were Sleiman I wouldn't do anything to the Landing, at all.  That's the problem.  He's doing well by putting nothing into it.  $5M basis for 200,000 SF filled with at least temporary tenants?  He probably doesn't even have debt on this thing and all he pays is a cheap COJ ground lease.  This alone answers our question.  It's too risky to do anything with the center, but he doesn't want that to get out in public (that it was his plan all along to sit on it...doesn't do much for the reputation).

I have to quit harping against him because any owner in its right mind would do the same.  Parking, no parking, bla bla bla he's going to sail along as he has.  Now it makes sense why a strip mall developer would buy the Landing (wish we had looked at that deal...we would have bought it at $6M!, haha).

[thelakelander]

Rouse simply wanted out of Jax, made the deal and bolted out of town.

[fsujax]

Too bad we cant this kind of parking garage in Jax. Instead we get status quo.

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2012/10/16-parking-garages-worth-looking/3564/

[JeffreyS]

^We could have had those types of design. Parador was going to build whatever they were required to build. DDRB just sold our asses out.

[fsujax]

^^all except two of them.

[vicupstate]

all he pays is a cheap COJ ground lease

As I recall, he doesn't have to pay even that, until the parking is provided.

[JayBird]

In my email today, thought I saw headline from JBJ that a financial group was leasing new space in SunTrust Building.  Which brings up the question again of how will COJ know when the 50% threshold is met?  Also, if it has been met with this new office lease, does Paragon have a clause where they back out because they were planning to build retail in 2-3 years down the road? (which I don't believe, but it sounded nice on paper)

[thelakelander]

Is it true that this new Suntrust lease is simply moving across the street from One Enterprise Center?

[fieldafm]

Sort of.

Like all mortgage companies right now, their employee count is expanding.  They are increasing headcount and they are leasing additional office space in the Suntrust Tower to have capacity for this expanded staff.  The Enterprise Center space will still be leased/occupied.

That being said, Parador just acquired additional office condo space (previously under foreclosure) within the Suntrust Tower.  Without this additional space, I'm pretty sure this new Foundation Financial lease would represent 50% occupancy of the previously acquired space when they applied for the tax incentives... meaning that they should build the retail portion of the parking garage when they start construction of said garage. 

Who wants to take bets that they will now say occupancy is under 50% b/c of the newly acquired office space, and therefore the retail portion of the garage will wait??

As previously mentioned, the Advance Disposal HQ relocation (now going to Nocatee) was the other tenant that Parador dangled in front of the former JEDC for their parking garage incentive.  AD got a better $/sq ft lease rate in St Johns County with lower buildout costs(which more than made up for St Johns County lower incentive package). 

[tufsu1]

Who wants to take bets that they will now say occupancy is under 50% b/c of the newly acquired office space, and therefore the retail portion of the garage will wait??

I'd like to bet they don't build the garage at all

[dougskiles]

Was it 50%?  For some reason, 70% sticks in my mind.

I was in Charlotte last week and snapped a few pictures of cool parking garages.  I think the express ramp is an interested feature.  It also allows more flexibility in the interior layout - which would make space for deeper retail on the first floor.  I'm not saying that this should be the prominent feature facing the river, however, it could anchor one of the other corners.



Here is another garage with a more interesting facade and successful ground floor commercial space.

[tufsu1]

^ and that last parking garage anchors what is now the northernmost station on the LYNX light rail line

[fieldafm]

Was it 50%?  For some reason, 70% sticks in my mind.

My apologies, we are both wrong... it's 65%. 

Still the premise bears contemplating.  What consitutes the 65%?  The original space Parador controlled when they originally applied for the incentive, or the aggregate ownership level that includes the new space they have since acquired (or future acquistions)?

I think it would stink to high heaven if they count the new space. 

I think the express ramp is an interested feature.  It also allows more flexibility in the interior layout - which would make space for deeper retail on the first floor.

You don't even have to go as far as Charlotte to see that.  The garage (with ground level retail) bounded by Adams/Forsyth/Hogan has an express ramp.  You could easily extend that ramp out in the Parador garage at the corner of Hogan/Independent which would allow for better depth for the retail portion (it's not the available square feet that is the problem-which kept being highlighted at DDRB-it's the depth that limits the type of tenant that would show interest in the space-case in point the Everbank Building on Riverside Ave) along Hogan and Bay.... however, future plans call for Parador to buy the Sisters Cities property for another development so I'm quite sure this is not something they want to do b/c a ramp extension will limit this future site plan. 

Again, don't be fooled into thinking the developer is as pro-downtown as the press releases make them out to be.