City staff described terms of a pending arrangement with Publix regarding downtown property and parking during the Oct. 17 municipal boards and committee meeting, outlining the retailer’s exercise of an existing option on an older downtown building and an offered purchase of a city‑owned parking garage.

Staff said the CRA (Community Redevelopment Area) has been treating the former J.C. Penney building (Downtown Office Building 1) as an asset since a 1995 lease that included an option for Publix to purchase the building for $10. Publix has notified the city of its intent to exercise that 1995 purchase option. The CRA held and maintained the property and paid real estate taxes; staff said the 1995 lease included the nominal $10 purchase option in favor of Publix.

Separately, the city owns and operates the Orange Tree parking garage and adjacent surface parking (approximately 733 garage spaces plus 61 surface spaces along Massachusetts Avenue). Staff told the committee that the garage generates roughly $167,000 in annual parking revenue above routine maintenance and repair costs of about $93,000, but periodic structural overhauls (performed every three years) cost about $400,000. When averaged over time, staff estimated the garage operation runs a deficit of approximately $59,000 per year, a shortfall that is paid from the city transportation fund.

Under the described agreement, Publix would become owner of the Orange Tree parking garage and the adjacent surface spaces and assume responsibility for maintenance and structural repairs. As part of the negotiated terms, the city would grant easements for the aerial pedestrian bridges that connect downtown buildings (staff said the bridges will remain subject to easement language clarifying Publix ownership and maintenance responsibility while reserving limited city rights to intervene for urgent public safety repairs).

Staff said the transaction has been under negotiation for years and that final documents will be presented to the commission. City staff and CRA representatives framed the proposed transfers as a way to align operating responsibility with the private owner that largely occupies downtown properties and to reduce the ongoing subsidy from public transportation funds.

The committee discussion covered asset ownership history, maintenance obligations and the financial impact on the city transportation fund. Staff said the CRA had been paying taxes and structural maintenance while treating the building as effectively owned since the 1995 lease. Committee members indicated support for moving the draft deal forward for commission consideration.