The developers of the Fondren Entertainment District are forming plans for the parking garage that will be constructed behind The Pearl tiki bar, Highball Lanes bowling alley and the Capri Theatre.
Jason Watkins and David Pharr, the Northeast Jackson residents who created the Fondren Entertainment District business, said they are handling plans for the garage because there is available land tied to their development and they have an established business relationship with a contractor, which should make construction as efficient and affordable as possible.
Senate Bill 3150 authorized up to $20 million in bonds to be issued by the Hinds County Development Project Loan Fund “to assist in the development and construction of infrastructure improvements, including a structured parking facility, and other improvements associated with an entertainment development project.”
“State leadership – the governor and speaker of the House of Representatives – directed it this way,” Watkins said. “They saw the need for this garage. It was their choice to help it in this fashion.”
In February, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors approved the general concept of the garage and voted to move forward with the legislation.
The supervisors will be responsible for paying back the loan, Watkin said. Revenue from drivers paying to use the garage and fees paid by residents of an apartment complex that is planned will go to Hinds County to pay the loan, he said.
“We have a few details to work out with the county as far as the loan agreement structure,” he said. “After that is done, the design phase will start and then construction, which will take six to nine months.”
Hinds County will become the owner of the garage after it is completed, Watkins said.
“It will be the county’s long-term asset,” he said. “We have no interest in being the owner of the garage.”
Plans call for a professional management company to lease and operate the garage, Watkins said. As is the case in many cities, drivers will pay a fee to park in the garage.
The exact location of the garage, which is estimated to cost $13 million to build, has not been pinpointed other than to say behind the entertainment district, Pharr said.
Pharr and Watkins are working with a consultant who specializes in parking garages, who has indicated that a garage that can hold 500 vehicles would be the right size to accommodate businesses in the area and allow for the area’s future growth.
Watkins hopes the garage will be ready for use by the end of 2022.
In a state where drivers like the convenience of front door parking, Pharr believes drivers will use the garage because it will offer an alternative to circling the block and looking for an open parking place.
“We think people will like the predictability and security of a parking lot,” he said. An armed security guard patrols the front of the Fondren entertainment district and another one the back of the entertainment district.
Nathan Glenn, owner of Rooster’s and Basil’s restaurants in the Fondren Corner Building, welcomes the additional parking.
“Parking is the one thing everyone complains about in Fondren,” he said. “Any additional parking would be good. I think it will be good for the entire area.”
A parking garage would also be beneficial when there are events in Fondren and parking is at a premium, he said.
