Architects for Florida Blue’s proposed $22.5 million parking garage in Brooklyn have satisfied its critics on the Downtown Development Review Board.
WJCT News partner the Jacksonville Daily Record reports the design of the 869-space garage was granted final approval by the board Thursday in a unanimous vote.
Architects with RS&H Inc. responded to DDRB feedback from the project’s Oct. 10 conceptual approval hearing by simplifying the facade design. They also added food truck areas, a second public park-like space and expanded the bays for potential future retail.
The garage at Magnolia, Forest and Park streets will free Florida Blue’s 4½-acre riverfront surface parking lot on Riverside Avenue for development of Fidelity National Information Systems Inc.’s $145 million future headquarters.
Florida Blue will sell that property to FIS by the end of the first quarter of 2020.
The insurer’s parent company, GuideWell Inc., also is preparing to add 500 contract and 250 full-time jobs to its Riverside Avenue offices, bringing its total workforce to 1,750.
The Downtown Investment Authority says the Florida Blue parking garage will meet increased parking demand in Brooklyn and support existing and proposed retail businesses and restaurants along Riverside Avenue and nearby Park Street.
Construction is expected to begin by Jan. 9 and be completed by Sept. 9.
An expanded version of this story that includes additional renderings and information, including retail space plans for the garage, is at JaxDailyRecord.com.
