Commercial space at State Street garage hits market

Groups interested in occupying the commercial space at the forthcoming State Street parking garage have until Aug. 6 to make their offers.

Ian Black Real Estate, working on behalf of the city, is currently marketing nearly 19,000 square feet of available space within and adjacent to the planned five-story parking structure. The City Commission will consider offers for the space at an Aug. 18 meeting.

The city is selling 13,885 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor of the garage. According to Ian Black Real Estate marketing documents, the firm is seeking offers in the range of $120 per square foot — or roughly $1.67 million in total.

In addition, the city is separately selling a 5,041-square-foot “pad parcel” adjacent to the garage at the corner of State Street and Lemon Avenue. The asking price for the pad parcel is in the range of $369,000. The pad parcel is also required to have ground-floor retail, and will be between five and six stories tall.

The pad site comes with an allowable density of five residential units, but the structure could potentially house up to 18 residential units. The buyer will have the option to pay $15,000 for each additional residential unit. Buyers will also have the option to develop the upper floors of the pad site for commercial or office space.

As the city discussed the design of the garage last year, Ian Black expressed some trepedation regarding the pad site proposal, which the commission ultimately selected. Now that the space has hit the market, Black said that he believes the location of the space will drive interest. Already, he said, the reception has been positive.

"It's an opportunity to be creative and do something that is appropriate for the property," Black said. "I'm encouraged by the response that I'm getting."

Construction on the 395-space State Street parking garage began last month. The expected completion date of the project is March 2015.

Contact David Conway at [email protected].