The DIA incentives do help, and I think they play an important role. But, they are a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of parking. 75% Rev grants and facade grants really don’t come close when you underwrite these deals.
With all due respect, you are incorrect. Without the revamped DIA program, there is a 30% hole in the proforma for every one of the historic renovation projects currently under construction in the Northbank.
Again the problem here, as I see it are really these key item.
- Self Storage should be banned entirely in the DDRB zone, or force those projects to be mixed-use. (And not just ground-floor retail)
- Jax planning needs to find more creative solutions for parking credits/discounts in this part of town. (I was wrong earlier, there literally is not a higher & better use for this property with this setup in mind)
- Just because there is a nice facade, doesn’t mean we should allow projects that will inherently allow for more.
I agree on points one and three. On point two, Code now allows for shared parking (in Downtown only). There are three buildings which will be undergoing renovation soon that will have such arrangements. Again, several adaptive reuse projects Downtown have been granted complete parking deviations in the past, and new builds within Downtown's broader borders receive parking reductions through the administrative deviations process. I can't think of any new builds in the last 15 years which didn't receive parking reductions, but I'm also not wasting a lot of time thinking about it. Can the parking ratios continue to be refined Downtown? To an extent, yes. Hell, there are a lot of things with the zoning rewrite a few years ago that should be made better. Is three parking spaces for a three bedroom unit excessive? Yes. Should you be able to build a quad in LaVilla or the Cathedral District and not provide parking? Absolutely, yes. There are enough options for residents of smaller projects to act as true parking consumers and choose their own parking arrangements either in existing garages or surface lots that offer monthly parking rates. But, I also couldn't wrap my head around having three new 400-unit apartment or condo buildings constructed with no on-site parking, either. You still need a car when living Downtown- this I know from personal experience as both a resident and a property owner. JWB bought the Florida Baptist parking garage specifically to support their future infill projects North of Ashley Street, as an example of a creative (and insanely cheap) way to deal with their future parking needs.
Take the RISE project near the Stadium as a perfect example. That project is not feasible with today’s interest.
That's apples to oranges to the parking question. With today's rates, they'd likely have to increase the intensity of the building and likely lose out on some equity in favor of their current private equity partner (maybe even lose out on some of the retail space).
Both Iconic's Doro redevelopment previously approved, and RISE's Doro infill project both received parking reductions, FWIW.
Now good luck getting that parking agreement… unless you know someone.
I think we very much agree on why self-storage shouldn't (and already doesn't) be allowed for this particular site, so I'll cry uncle on the parking talk. Its an interesting discussion that likely deserves its own thread. But, I have two such agreements, so they are feasible and available.
Have there been other PUD's approved within the Downtown Zoning Overlay?
There are quite a few PUDs Downtown, in fact there are two located a block away from the self-storage site (San Marco Place PUD and the St. Johns PUD- encompassing The Strand, Peninsula and the never-built Vu). None have been put in place since the most recent formation of the DIA, although you could argue that the RiversEdge DRI is like a PUD. Additionally, the Jaguars' Shipyards project received a blanket rezoning that included an existing PUD.
If this is approved, it won’t be the last.
Does COJ want to open the doors to developers X, Y and Z bringing whatever projects they fancy up for approval, whenever they like? Each one would be a battle to some degree, and the COJ decision makers on these issues don't especially like public battles.
100% agree on both points.
