The city will lose 0.1 acre of surplus property, but gain a 30-space public parking lot developed and maintained by a private entity.
The Downtown Investment Authority on Wednesday approved transfer of a 0.63-acre parcel along Riverside Avenue to Regency Realty Group Inc. in exchange for five parcels of land totaling 0.53 acre along Magnolia Street in Brooklyn.
The Magnolia Street parcels, along with two parcels owned by the city, will be developed into a 30-space public parking lot that will serve the retail center anchored by The Fresh Market and provide additional parking for people who wish to utilize the Northbank Riverwalk.
Regency will bear the cost of constructing the parking lot — estimated at $160,000 — as well as for long-term maintenance.
Authority CEO Aundra Wallace said the property is not on the ad valorem tax roll and Regency was the sole respondent to a Notice of Disposition.
He also said the appraised value of the city’s property involved in the transfer is about $700,000. Regency’s property is appraised at “just under $1 million,” he said.
Authority board member Marc Padgett pointed out that in addition to the city getting more appraised value in the swap than it is transferring, the parking lot will be added to the tax roll.
“I don’t see how this could be a bad deal in any way,” he said.
Paul Maxwell, Regency Realty Group vice president of investments, said he estimated it will take six to nine months to execute a development agreement with the authority and receive approval for the design and landscaping from the Downtown Development Review Board.
The 0.63-acre parcel transferred by the city at the corner of Riverside Avenue and Leila Street is adjacent to the Shoppes at Riverside and could be developed as the site for a “name-brand pharmacy,” Wallace said.
The authority also agreed to negotiate an agreement with Nuvo Development Jacksonville for a five-story, 90,000-square-foot self-storage facility at the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Elder Street.
Downtown Redevelopment Manager Guy Parola said the facility will be a convenience for residents of the apartments along Riverside Avenue as well as those in the rental developments soon to be constructed in LaVilla.
The conceptual design of the building was approved last week by the review board.
In other business, Parola said the hardware for the city’s upgrade of Downtown Wi-Fi is fully installed and the system could be operational within 30 days.
Wallace also said seven proposals have been received from consultants for the LaVilla development strategy and the city procurement department should award the contract in October.
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