The developers of a proposed retail center in Brooklyn have scrapped plans for a pharmacy and instead seek more parking to accommodate additional restaurants.
Atlanta-based Fuqua Development LP has filed a request with the Downtown Development Review Board to add 31 parking spaces to the site plan for a new total of 255 spaces, according to a memorandum explaining the changes.
The memorandum cites "practical and economic" difficulty with complying with the approved number of parking spaces because multiple restaurant users "require heavier parking than the previously approved pharmacy use."
Without approval of the additional parking spaces, "the restaurant users will not locate on this site and this portion of the project will not move forward," the memorandum states.
The 53,700-square-foot retail center is designed on a parcel bordered by Riverside Avenue on the south, Magnolia Street on the north, Leila Street on the east and Jackson Street on the west.
It is proposed to be anchored by a national grocery store, identified July 11 as Fresh Market, with other retail and restaurant space.
The memorandum states the modification would not reduce the cost of the project. However, "it would enable the project to move forward and to bring highly-desired, high-quality retailers to Brooklyn which is unquestionably in the public interest."
Fuqua representatives will appear before the development review board, part of the City Office of Economic Development, today to seek a modification to the site plan and architectural design that was approved July 11.
Fuqua did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment.
The board meets at 2 p.m. today in the Lynwood Roberts Room at City Hall.
Also on the agenda for final approval is the City's Southbank Riverwalk restoration project.
The project involves demolition of the existing wood structure and its replacement with precast concrete from Friendship Park on the west to the Duval County School Board property on the east.
New lighting, furniture, handrails and landscaping are included in the design.
The improvements will support the Downtown Master Plan goals and objectives, and furthers an initiative of the
Downtown Action Plan, to create a "Riverwalk Enhancement Plan."
"The Southbank Riverwalk is an existing recreational resource and is one of the best ways to enjoy Downtown Jacksonville's greatest asset, the St. Johns River," the application states.
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