by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The City is planning to build over 60,000 square feet worth of office space on A. Philip Randolph Boulevard within the next two years. A two-story, simple brick building will house the City’s one-stop shop and a few divisions of the Clerk of the Court’s Office.
Chief Administrative Officer Sam Mousa said the project has been in the City’s plans for years and will help alleviate the serious parking issue facing residents who need to file various permits at the one-stop office currently located in the City Hall Annex on East Bay Street. Often, those residents spend more time looking for a space than it takes to actually file the permit request.
“This is part of our long-term game plan to get them [the permitting offices] out of the Annex,” said Mousa. “And, parking around the Annex is a big driving force.”
While a majority of the Clerk of the Court’s Office will move to the new $211 million county courthouse complex southwest of City Hall when it’s finished in 2005, the marriage license and purchasing divisions will be located in the new facility near the Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fairgrounds as will the traffic violations bureau and the domestic violence division.
“At this point, domestic violence and the traffic bureau are already off site,” said Delores Battinelli, chief assistant to Clerk of the Court Jim Fuller.
Battinelli said the new facility will house about 55 employees, including one Hubbard House staff member who works with the domestic violence division. She also said the City approached the Clerk of the Court’s Office about other divisions that could possibly relocate to the new building.
“In the new courthouse, they wanted to save space so they asked us if there were any other departments that could be kept outside the courthouse,” said Battinelli. “We told them we could add purchasing and the marriage license division.”
The process of obtaining the necessary land — three to four City blocks on A. Philip Randolph between Grant and Beaver streets — has already begun. Last month, a resolution was read into City Council records that would allow the City to begin eminent domain and condemnation proceedings in an effort to gain control of all the land needed. Mousa said he expects construction could begin within a year.
“We are negotiating the design with architects,” said Mousa. “We could be under construction in a year and compete within two years. It will be a two-story building with elevators. It’s a commercial office building. It’s all they need.”
The City’s one-stop shop is often the first step for any new business, construction project or anything else that may need to be permitted. In addition to being where residents file building permits, the office also handles plan reviews, landscape permits, traffic permits and a bevy of other services. Between the mounting paperwork associated with permit records keeping and the number of people who need access to the office on a daily basis, Mousa said it made sense to move the office into a free-standing facility. And, the $12.6 million facility is not being paid for with Better Jacksonville Plan money.
“It’s completely outside of Better Jacksonville,” said Mousa. “The funding is coming out of permits and filing. That’s the total budget, including land, engineering and construction.”
According to preliminary plans, the permitting office will be about 33,000 square feet while the documents facility will be slightly smaller at 30,000 square feet.