Fox Jewelry to bring affordable housing?

Mr. Fox of Fox Jewelers says he is currently planning on at least 10 units that will be for sale at a predicted price range of $65,000 to $75,000 per unit. Mr. Fox said he expects the units will range from 800 to 900 square feet. Though this is not a huge number of units, it is a small start towards getting the affordable housing downtown that everyone seems to be vocalizing. The units will be located above Fox Jewelers at the corner of Bay and Broad Streets downtown. Currently there is a boarding space above the jewelry shop. Mr. Fox said there may be a mixture of rental and owned units in the above his shop, and that is why he can only commit verbally at this time to 10 units for sale. Expected completion date of the renovations is within the next 12 to 18 months.

Parking for the lofts has been somewhat of a controversial issue as there is currently legislation before the City Council that will give part of a park adjacent to Fox Jewelry to Fox to use as a parking lot for the lofts.  Councilman Reggie Fuller is sponsoring this legislation.  Councilwoman Suzanne Jenkins is also listed as a co-sponsor of the bill.  Asked about giving away city park land for a parking lot, Jenkins said she was not up to date on the most recently proposed legislation, but that when she saw the original plans that were submitted about a year ago, only a small piece of the back part of the park was going to be given to Fox.  Jenkins also said that at this point, Fullwood was handling most of the negotiations with Mr. Fox and would be the main contact for further understanding the current legislation.  Councilman Fullwood did not return calls or emails.  Asked about receiving city land for free, Mr. Fox pointed out that the current proposal has him paying for some of the land and receiving another portion of it free of charge.