The design of that 696-space garage began to take shape when the Downtown Development Review Board gave its approval during a conceptual review. The side of the garage facing Laura Street would have a modern flair. It will have six levels of parking. It will have ground-level retail space fronting Laura Street , but not on the rest of the building.

The parking garage will be part of the biggest redevelopment project to hit downtown in years, bringing tens of millions of dollars in investment into an area that would showcase what happens when apartments, stores, restaurants and businesses are clustered together in a tight-knit, urban framework.

City Council member Greg Anderson , who is the council's liaison to the Downtown Development Review Board , said he trusts that panel to ensure the design works both in terms of architectural style and incorporating retail in the garage.

"From a personal standpoint, I liked the contrast," he said of the contemporary design for the facade that will have the storefronts. "It speaks about a new Jacksonville and that we're committed to downtown, and we're making multiple uses of that building."

The plans for the parking garage have changed since City Council approved legislation last year pledging millions of dollars in city support for renovation of the historic buildings and the parking garage.

Instead of having 550 parking spaces and 12,000 square feet of retail, the garage will have 696 parking spaces and about 4,900 square feet of retail. The design still could change again because the developer will go back to the Downtown Development Review Board with a final plan for approval before construction would start.

The review board asked the developer to look at adding more ground-floor retail space.

Downtown Vision CEO Jake Gordon , whose group represents downtown property owners, said the current economic situation in downtown might not lend itself to filling such space right off the bat, but it will pay dividends in the future as more people make it their home.

"All that has to happen is a change in the economics and then suddenly, those spaces are filled and that's what will really make us a world-class downtown," he said.

He added that if the dimensions of the garage restrict where it's possible to incorporate retail space, that would obviously limit how much retail can go into the garage.

Anderson said the city should work with the developer to get the "best product they possibly can." But Anderson said the impact of the parking garage extends to the rest of the project because the garage will make it possible to support street-level retail and restaurants in the historic buildings.

"I look at it as one large-scale redevelopment project," he said.

The city's design requirements for the central part of downtown's Northbank say new parking garages should be built with ground-floor retail or commercial space along at least 50 percent of the building's street frontage. That policy is aimed at preventing parking garages from being dead zones.

The planned parking garage runs the length of a long city block along Forsyth Street between Laura Street and Main Street . The back side of the garage would be bordered by existing buildings so it's not possible to have retail along that wall.

The ends of the rectangular-shaped garage would face portions of Laura Street and Main Street .

The final design approval will come later when the developer -- a joint venture of the Molasky Group and Southeast Development Group -- returns to the review board with detailed architectural features such as materials and colors.

The joint venture will build the garage. The city then will lease the garage for $660,000 per year for 20 years, for a total of up to $13.2 million . The city would sub-lease 250 spaces back to the developer for use in connection with renovation of the Barnett Bank and Laura Street Trio buildings, and construction of a new hotel. The remainder of the spaces would be available for public parking.

Gordon said when the entire project is finished, it will be a game-changer for downtown. Over the years, the city has partnered with private developers on other buildings, but the Barnett Bank and Laura Street vacancies have weighed down the revitalization push.

"If you put a pin in the center of downtown, these buildings are it," Gordon said. "There has always been this gap of energy right here in the middle, and filling that is going to be very transformative."

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