T MINUS 231: Vivian Green or McFadden and Whitehead?

I might be on an emotional rollcoaster but ain't no stopping us now! Last I posted, I was in love with my construction manager...now they have me on an emotional rollercoaster. Keep in mind, we're talking about having this big grand celebration in 231 days- complete with fireworks, the most beautifully diverse crowd Tallahassee has ever seen in one place, Robin Thicke, liquor sponsors out the whazoo and the sexiest decor in Tallahassee (outside of the lobby at Springhill Suites on Apalachee Parkway). Let us also not forget that the startup costs for the project are just shy of $3M and I have accumulated the same amount of capital I had on T MINUS 365!

So why the emotional rollercoaster? Because in our efforts to address the parking issue, we decided to 'park' any efforts to pull together the figures I would need for my construction bid. Let us not forget that this the federal government that we are dealing with as a part of my capital campaign and I won't be able to address the parking issue EVER if I don't get the funding! Remember that whole discussion about needing 1 parking space for every 200 ground square feet? That's where we've been hung up.

The asking price for the property includes the 15,000 square foot building and the adjacent lot. This lot is about 5,000 square feet by itself and according to their calculations (350 square feet per parking space), I would need 19,000 square feet of space to build in those 56.25 spaces needed per the zoning requirement. I'm taking a hard look at that figure because 19,000 SF is bigger than the facility itself! Now, in my efforts to put the parking space requirements in perspective, their office looks like it has about 18 parking spaces and that lot looks like it's only about 1/3 of the space that comes with my property.

After a meeting last week, I was charged with the task of identifying opportunities to lease parking spaces from areas businesses and agencies. The main reason that parking has presented itself as a problem is because I have to make sure that they amenity is available- and mainly only for the constituents that will be making use of the conference center (as for the restaurant, there are 3 State buildings within a one-block radius of Concept so their cars already parked nearby and the cocktail lounge patrons won't have any trouble finding parking after hours because, trust me, State workers are already home by the time 5 oclock comes!).

Either way, like McFadden and Whitehead said so long ago, there won't be any stopping me now...surely, I haven't come this far to let something as simple as parking stop this rollercoaster but let's refocus our efforts and get me my construction bid so I get my SBA Loan so I can address the parking issue!