10/29/09 - Madison County
By: Stephanie
Ryan
sryan@wbbjtv.com
sryan@wbbjtv.com
5:56 p.m.
A plan to build a downtown Jackson parking garage has left almost an entire city block empty. Now the Jackson City Council must decide what to do with the property.
"I walk past here pretty often, at least a couple times of day," Keith Brasher said. "It's nothing but mud and water." A pit of mud is how Brasher describes the land at the corner of North Highland Avenue and Lafayette Street.
The Jackson City Council sold the piece of property to private developer John Allen in 2006 with the agreement that he would build a parking garage. According to Allen, if the parking garage was not built, the city would buy back the property.
The Council decided last month not to use Community Development Block Grants to build a parking garage, leaving Allen wondering how the garage would be funded.
Allen said the Council asked him to give them other options for the garage, options that Allen provided in a letter to the Mayor:
1. The City can buy the land back for $814,000.
2. The City can buy the land back for $814,000, plus $58,000 that Allen will use to fill and compact the land.
3. The City has the option to lease-purchase a garage that Allen will build on the property. The City would pay $35,000 a month for 20 years.
Mayor Jerry Gist said he believes planning for parking is important to future growth of the city, which is why he favors the lease-purchase option.
"Whether we build it now, or whether we build it later, I think it's inevitable that we have a parking garage downtown," Gist said.
Gist said in the future, he plans to go about developing a garage differently. "Any future parking garage will be an issue driven by the city and not by a private developer," Gist said.
People who work in the area, like Chip Thomas, General Manager of Thomas Media, believe a parking garage would be an asset to the downtown area. "I think it could help our property value, and the more people we can get coming downtown, [it] can be nothing but a good thing for us," Thomas said.
But what Thomas wants ultimately is something other than an empty lot. "Anything but a muddy pond would be great," Thomas said.
City Council will vote on the issue November 3.
A plan to build a downtown Jackson parking garage has left almost an entire city block empty. Now the Jackson City Council must decide what to do with the property.
"I walk past here pretty often, at least a couple times of day," Keith Brasher said. "It's nothing but mud and water." A pit of mud is how Brasher describes the land at the corner of North Highland Avenue and Lafayette Street.
The Jackson City Council sold the piece of property to private developer John Allen in 2006 with the agreement that he would build a parking garage. According to Allen, if the parking garage was not built, the city would buy back the property.
The Council decided last month not to use Community Development Block Grants to build a parking garage, leaving Allen wondering how the garage would be funded.
Allen said the Council asked him to give them other options for the garage, options that Allen provided in a letter to the Mayor:
1. The City can buy the land back for $814,000.
2. The City can buy the land back for $814,000, plus $58,000 that Allen will use to fill and compact the land.
3. The City has the option to lease-purchase a garage that Allen will build on the property. The City would pay $35,000 a month for 20 years.
Mayor Jerry Gist said he believes planning for parking is important to future growth of the city, which is why he favors the lease-purchase option.
"Whether we build it now, or whether we build it later, I think it's inevitable that we have a parking garage downtown," Gist said.
Gist said in the future, he plans to go about developing a garage differently. "Any future parking garage will be an issue driven by the city and not by a private developer," Gist said.
People who work in the area, like Chip Thomas, General Manager of Thomas Media, believe a parking garage would be an asset to the downtown area. "I think it could help our property value, and the more people we can get coming downtown, [it] can be nothing but a good thing for us," Thomas said.
But what Thomas wants ultimately is something other than an empty lot. "Anything but a muddy pond would be great," Thomas said.
City Council will vote on the issue November 3.