The City Council will consider a redevelopment agreement with Florida Blue for a new parking garage in Brooklyn.
WJCT News partner theJacksonville Daily Record reports the garage would replace the insurance company’s existing Riverside Avenue surface parking lot, making the space available for the international headquarters of a company code-named Project Sharp.
Legislation filed Thursday would authorize the city to give a $3.5 million completion grant to build a 750-space, $22.5 million parking garage on city-owned property at Magnolia, Park and Forest streets two blocks west of the Riverside Avenue lot.
The city would transfer ownership of the 2.3-acre parcel, appraised at $3.17 million, to Florida Blue at no cost.
The bill was introduced by City Council President Scott Wilson on behalf of the Downtown Investment Authority. The agreement was approved by the DIA board Aug. 7.
Florida Blue uses the riverfront parking lot at 323 Riverside Ave. for its Downtown employees. An aerial photograph included in DIA documentation shows the lot as the intended site for Sharp’s proposed $145 million headquarters.
Described as an international financial technology services company, Sharp matches the needs of Jacksonville-based FIS, a Fortune 500 company. The agreement states Sharp would maintain its existing 1,216 jobs in Jacksonville, which matches the FIS workforce.
An expanded version of this story is at JaxDailyRecord.com.
