by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
Plans for the new Duval County Courthouse haven’t left the drawing board, but Metropolitan Parking Solutions has concrete plans for the building’s parking garage.
Construction on the 1,375-space garage began in January. The projected April 2007 completion was supposed to coincide with the courthouse’s grand opening. But plans for the courthouse have been scaled back and delayed, meaning that the garage will open without what was supposed to be its primary tenant.
But MPS doesn’t anticipate difficulties in filling the garage. The firm is already in talks with corporate tenants from buildings surrounding the garage at Forsyth and Pearl streets. MPS partner Mark Rimmer expects that commercial demand to pick up the slack.
“We’ve had a lot of interest from some of the large tenants in surrounding buildings and property managers from some of those buildings,” said Rimmer. “With its location close to Downtown’s core, we expect those spaces will continue to generate strong interest.”
Rimmer said the garage could spur commercial development in the area. One of the obstacles faced by property managers trying to fill office space is a lack of parking available for long-term lease, he said.
“A lot of the parking available is only available on a month-to-month basis. Corporate tenants want a longer-term contract than that, and that’s something we can help with,” said Rimmer.
In addition to its talks with landlords and potential tenants, MPS is pursuing a partnership with the Jacksonville Jaguars to offer spaces in its Sports Complex garages to season ticket holders. Single and multi-game ticket and parking packages are also being discussed, said MPS spokesperson Michael Munz.
MPS is looking for ways to build a steady clientele for its garages, which are subsidized by the City. The more money the garages generate, the less the City has to spend. This year the City expects to pay about $1.7 million to MPS.
MPS expects this year to be the low-water mark for the garages’ revenue. The Sports Complex garages didn’t open until February. Those garages soon will be open to daily commuters, said Rimmer.
In addition to the daily parking revenue collected at all three garages, next year’s income should get a bump from football crowds. Each game could generate more than $20,000 for MPS. In addition to concerts at the Arena and Suns baseball, the Sports Complex garages could be at capacity for at least 10 Jaguars home games, the Georgia-Florida game, the ACC football championship and the Toyota Gator Bowl.
Even as MPS searches for tenants, it hasn’t forgotten about the courthouse garage’s original purpose. Rimmer said spaces will still be set aside for the new county courthouse when it opens.
The City is taking bids now from design-build firms on the work to design the courthouse, now conceived as a 388,000 square-foot building serving only criminal cases. Civil courts would be added later. The tentative opening date for the building is late 2010.
“We have an obligation to have spaces available to support the courthouse at the time it opens,” said Rimmer. “We won’t make commitments that would reduce those numbers. We’re committed to making sure those spaces are available to the public.”