by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
The long-vacant Underwood’s Jewelers building at the corner of Hogan and Monroe streets may have a tenant by the end of the year.
Parker Hudson, president of General Real Estate Services, Inc. and owner of the three-story building, said he has three legitimate tenants looking at the building and expects to lease the space to one soon.
“I’m estimating there’s going to be a lease signed within three weeks,” said Hudson — who bought the building in June 2001 — declining to go into specifics about the potential tenant. “I’m going to have to pull the trigger at some point. I have to start paying the mortgage.”
Hudson said he doesn’t have plans to do much to the exterior, but is willing to work with the tenant on the interior. He said it would take about 6-8 weeks to renovate the interior to suit the new tenant.
One aspect Hudson has to take into consideration is the recent landmark status designation placed on his building by the Historic Preservation Commission. Such a designation can work both for and against Hudson as he tries to lease the space. The designation may allow Hudson to seek funding from several previously unattainable sources for any work he’d like to do on the building. At the same time, however, he’d then be at the mercy of the HPC in regards to exactly how he can remodel the building, especially on the exterior.
“At the City Council meeting last night [Tuesday], I asked them to postpone the landmark designation because it restricts me so much,” explained Hudson, adding he has already put $720,000 of his own money into renovations.
Hudson says the landmark designation would be fine with him as long as the financial assistance is quick and easy to get and he has some input in regards to the exterior renovations.
“If that would make it beautiful in their eyes, then I need assistance,” said Hudson.
Several months ago, Hudson was poised to lease a majority of the building’s 6,500 square feet to Mossfire Grille, which was considering downtown as a second location to complement its Riverside store. However, after pursuing economic assistance from the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission, Mossfire’s owners pulled out of the deal. Jason Thiel, a project manager with the Downtown Development Authority, said parking was Mossfire’s biggest concern.
“There’s not a single space available there,” said Thiel. “I think that’s what ultimately scared Mossfire Grille away.”
Thiel understands that parking downtown is a hot issue for new businesses looking at the area. Per city code, prospective restaurants must provide parking for its customers. The number of spaces required is a percentage of the restaurant’s capacity. However, Thiel explained that many entrepreneurs don’t realize that requirement can often be circumvented, especially if the business is going to locate in a historical building.
“In historical buildings like the Underwood’s building, you can make the case that there’s no parking, but ultimately it’s a decision to be made by the Zoning and Code division,” said Thiel. “You can request an administrative deviation. It’s a waiver for the required number of parking spaces. That’s handled by the Planning Department. Typically, they are very responsive.”
Last week, Thiel showed the property to representatives of Gordo’s Cuban-American restaurant in Tallahassee. Thiel said he thought Gordo’s was just giving downtown “a courtesy call” and believes they are looking at locations in the suburbs. He also said Gordo’s only wanted about half the available space and didn’t care for the location, which, according to Thiel, struck him as odd considering the Gordo’s in Tallahassee is a favorite of politicians and other State employees.
“I tried to tell them it’s the ideal spot,” said Thiel, explaining that City Hall is just across Hemming Plaza, the new United States Courthouse at Jacksonville is diagonally across the street and a new main library and county courthouse are planned and will be easily within walking distance.