(Trinidad Express) IN seven months, downtown Port of Spain will have 200 additional parking spaces.
The Nicholas Group of Companies, founded by Issa Nicholas, has invested $30 million to construct a seven-
storey parking facility on Chacon Street, Port of Spain, obliquely opposite Excellent City Centre.
During the sod-turning ceremony for the car park, yesterday, Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis said Government welcomed Nicholas’s investment, especially as parking remains a major issue in Port of Spain.
She said the facility was also coming at a time when Government’s focus was on revitalising the capital.
“As you know, Port of Spain, as our capital city has been a city, we are really of the firm view needs to be revitalised. On each occasion that Mr Nicholas and his team have made an input into changing the landscape of Port of Spain, it has been very effective and significant for Port of Spain,” she said.
“We want to see the development of Port of Spain. We said so in our last incarnation. On this occasion, despite the fact that the fortunes are not as positive as they were on that occasion, our intention is to ensure that Port of Spain is revitalised and redeveloped,” she said.
Robinson-Regis pointed out Nicholas was able to construct his car park at a reduced cost, given the extension of tax concessions on the construction of multi-storey car parks.
“The Minister of Finance, in his first budget speech, had extended the tax credits for the building of car parks, particularly in the city, to 2025, and that is one of the incentives that has led to Mr Nicholas being able to construct his car park at that cost and within the city,” she stated.
During his short address, Nicholas said the car park will be his company’s fifth such facility to be constructed in the city.
He said he was proud of his investment in the heart of Port of Spain.