As construction continues around the downtown Gainesville Square, the city's elected leaders have finalized a list of easements for the Parkside on the Square project.
Gainesville City Council approved a resolution on Tuesday that outlines covenants and easements for the contractors who will build the five-story residential-retail project on what's commonly known as "the old Belk lot" on Spring Street.
City Manager Bryan Lackey acknowledged that the resolution may not mean much to the average citizen who's watching the changing face of the downtown area. Still, the document is needed from a legal standpoint to protect the city.
"It's tight confines - they're building a building that's right up against the property line, which means every day they're going to be getting onto someone else's property. Luckily, in this case, it's all city property that's surrounding the property - the right of way, the parking deck, the little park near the county courthouse," Lackey said. "There are just a lot of little things to think through with the construction."
After the vote at City Council's meeting on Tuesday, Mayor Danny Dunagan called the resolution "one more step to move this project forward."
What the city does not know, however, is when construction will actually begin on the project. The developer has already pre-leased 14 units of the project, according to signage on the property.
"They've told us 16 is the magic number to get started, but I don't know if that's still the case or not," Lackey said. "I think as soon as they come out of the ground [with the building], I think the rest of them will sell pretty quickly - there's a lot of excitement about the project."
