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Press Release wrote
City Set to Build Two Downtown Parking Garages
City and Capitol South Partnering to add 1,455 spaces
Rendering 1 | Rendering 2 | Front Street
Addressing one of the top concerns facing businesses, workers and visitors to downtown Columbus, the City and Capitol South are working together to build two new parking garages in the heart of the city, beginning in 2008.
“Creating a great downtown requires us to focus on everything from pedestrians to bikes, housing to shopping, transit to traffic, and find solutions that work,” said Mayor Michael B. Coleman. “Parking has long been the top concern of businesses thinking about moving downtown as well as the people already working in the area, and this plan will add more than 1,450 much needed spaces.”
The City and Capitol South commissioned a study in 2007 that noted additional parking is necessary in order for downtown to remain economically competitive. The City asked Capitol South to facilitate the design and construction of the two new parking facilities. Capitol South currently manages almost 6,000 parking spaces downtown, including the 4,600 spaces at the City Center garages and 1,200 spaces on the surface parking lots on the west side of the Scioto River.
“Our goal is to bring more residents, more workers, and more visitors into downtown,” said City Council President Michael C. Mentel. “I hope there is a growing realization that the economic success of downtown Columbus impacts the entire Central Ohio region. This understanding is important as we continue our efforts to bring people to the core of our city and parking must be a key priority in our comprehensive strategy for downtown redevelopment. An additional parking garage near the new Courthouse and RiverSouth District is an encouraging first step.”
Pending the approval of the Columbus City Council and the Downtown Commission, the City will begin demolition and site preparation in February for the first garage at the corner of Front and Rich streets, where the condemned, former Lazarus garage currently sits unused. This eight-level, 773-space public garage will serve the growing employee base in the RiverSouth area. Construction is set to begin in May 2008, with the garage set to open in May 2009. The $14.5 million investment includes the costs of demolition and construction. The Columbus Downtown Development Corporation currently owns the land and will donate it to City.
The City also plans to invest $15.267 million in building the second garage, a four-level, 682-space facility designed to serve the Fourth and Gay area. Due to an expanding residential neighborhood, current surface parking spaces are being eliminated. This garage is still in the initial stages of development, and several approvals are necessary prior to finalizing a construction timeline and advancing legislation.
“With all of the dynamic projects occurring downtown, we need to ensure that one of the core focuses of downtown – employment – remains a top priority. Providing access to adequate parking allows downtown to remain competitive, locally, regionally and nationally,” said Guy V. Worley, President & CEO of Capitol South. “With 80% of the downtown employees driving to work, parking remains a top priority for downtown’s revitalization.”
Phase one of road conversions, from one way to two way, is set to begin this summer. Estimated cost of this phase of conversions and the associated streetscapes, utility upgrades, resurfacing, new sidewalks and ADA-compliant ramps is $9.5 million.
- Front (Broad to Rich) – Brick turn lanes, street trees, rain garden, ornamental street lights ($6.3 million)
- Ludlow (Town to Rich) – street trees, ornamental lighting, rain garden ($1.5m)
- Wall (Town to Rich) – street will be all brick, shrubs, ornamental lighting ($1m)
- Rich (High to Ludlow) – ornamental lighting, some plantings ($750,000)
Other sections of these roads will be converted in succeeding years as other downtown projects move forward.
The City of Columbus is helping lead the implementation of the Downtown Business Plan with the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation and local businesses. 2007 marks the fifth year of the 10-year plan to bring new investment, energy and activity into downtown. There is a new market for downtown housing – with more than 4,700 housing units opened or opening soon, the opening of North Bank Park, AEP’s Foundation and the City’s commitment of $10 million each to the Scioto Mile Parks, and private partners looking at developing acres of surface parking lots into new housing and retail throughout the district. Since 2002, the Mayor also has worked with 35 companies, keeping 583 jobs in the district and getting commitments for 2,385 more jobs to be created. The total new investment in downtown since 2000 is estimated at $2.19 billion, with $711 million in public funding helping leverage $1.48 billion in private investment. This includes projects proposed, under construction, or built since 2000.
Comments
- itinerantfoodie: Not one mention of Huntington Park or their sparse advertising. (Seriously
- Liz Samuelson: Why can't they just pay someone to do it versus a contest? I really like t
- RichLauro: Awesome! Good for Justin and best wishes!!
- Liz Samuelson: @jpizzow – Thank you for the compliment, yes lots of potential and lots o
- Taz Devil: Oh, and it should be finished soon considering that they work late into the
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City Set to Build Two Downtown Parking Garages
By: Walker
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riding bikes is only for poor people. duh
I got into cycling for financial reasons, I am still cycling because of financial reasons, and I will continue because I love it.
I’m poor. It’s perfect for me.
ARH ARH ARH? Do I know you? Who are you?
I dig poor chicks, espicially ones on bikes with nose-rings, tattoos, and a plant-based diet like LaChewla.
Regarding some of the backlash against the rather dull, single-use parking garages, Mike Brown, Mayor Coleman’s spokesman, had an interesting point of view.
He said that mixed-use facilities — stree-level retail, top-level residential — had been discussed for the two facilities. In the end, cost and timing were the factors that pushed city officials towards the current models. Brown said that the need for parking is dire and that getting something built was important for businesses to move Downtown.
“We’d rather go ahead with something great than wait for something perfect,” he told me earlier today.
Like most on this thread, I would’ve liked to see more creative ideas with these garages. Brown makes an interesting point, though.
Thanks for the update John.
If the need is that “dire”, can’t we just charge a little more to park there and offset the cost of roughing out some retail space in the facade?
The administration keeps talking out of both sides of its mouth about wanting a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly downtown and wanting cheap, abundant parking. It’s likely that you can’t have it both ways.
So where is the something great? Currently, it looks like we’re getting two plain ole parking garages.
I can’t imagine that it would really take a firm that much longer to design and draft a parking garage with commercial space on the first floor. Would it take a whole lot longer to build? And if it takes a month longer to build, wouldn’t it be worth it in the long run when you consider how long they’ll probably stand?
I can’t imagine that it would really take a firm that much longer to design and draft a parking garage with commercial space on the first floor. Would it take a whole lot longer to build? And if it takes a month longer to build, wouldn’t it be worth it in the long run when you consider how long they’ll probably stand?
I think that it would’ve taken a bit longer to come forward with an ambitious plan for mixed-use parking facility. Also, these plans have to be approved by both City Council and the Downtown Commission. Perhaps they wouldn’t have gone for the plan everyone here (including me) would like to see. Not always sure about how that stuff works. From my experience, slowly and gradually.
I think it’s just another example of short sighted city leaders giving hand jobs to the developers.
I had a more eloquent response typed up but I’m beyond the point of caring what they do downtown.
If the need is that “dire”, can’t we just charge a little more to park there and offset the cost of roughing out some retail space in the facade?
There’s only so much you can start charging for parking before more mobile businesses start looking to the burbs, or at least to the outer edges of Columbus where land is more available. The need isn’t just for parking, it’s for cheap (or free) parking.
If the need is that “dire”, can’t we just charge a little more to park there and offset the cost of roughing out some retail space in the facade?
There’s only so much you can start charging for parking before more mobile businesses start looking to the burbs, or at least to the outer edges of Columbus where land is more available. The need isn’t just for parking, it’s for cheap (or free) parking.
At the 100 ft. view, this seems like a plausible argument, but at the 35,000 ft. view, it completely falls apart.
Why don’t the economies of NYC, Chicago, San Fran, Miami, and LA just crumble to the ground? Isn’t that land at least an order of magnitude more expensive than the surface lots that occupy so much of downtown Columbus?
Great economies aren’t great because they have cheap parking. Great cities aren’t great because they have cheap parking. Vibrant cities aren’t vibrant because they have cheap parking.
It’s going to take a sustained effort to invest in multiple modes of transit and force everything built downtown to be pedestrian-scaled. Sure, we may piss off a flighty company here and there, but long term, we’ll be better off and attract companies. You just can’t keep making concessions like this.
I’d think it’s a matter of diminishing returns. For Columbus, businesses can locate to the outerbelt, or former farm land not too far from it, and still be within a reasonable distance from the downtown core — and pretty much anywhere else in town. In those larger cities all that area is already built up, and there gets to be a point where moving out even farther for the cheap land becomes more of a hindrance. But it’s not like it doesn’t happen – there’s a reason greater Chicago is called “Chicagoland” — the city, suburbs, and development in the area is HUGE!
This is obviously the ultimate goal, but if no businesses are moving in during the short term thanks to potentially employee-unfriendly setups, is the economy going to SURVIVE into the long term?
Meanwhile, those flighty businesses which COULD have moved in in the interim with some enticement & concessions instead move out to the outerbelt or beyond, and we don’t get any closer to increasing density downtown.
I think shroud has the right of it. NYC isn’t “hip” because of its expensive parking. Its hip in spite of its expensive parking.
When we’ve got 8 million people in the metro area and Columbus has swallowed all its current suburbs and some that haven’t even been dreamed up on paper yet, and our urban boundaries span from Marysville to Lancaster and Newark to London, it’ll be a little harder for businesses to relocate to where the parking is. At the moment, however, it’s only about 15 minutes from Capitol Square to Easton. Hardly a dealbreaker, especially because the move might well put a business closer to customers and employees.
argh, so it sounds like there’s nothing to do to change it. That sucks.
As for the mayor’s spokesman, I don’t buy it. You can rush and do something crappy, or wait an extra month (maybe less) and do something better. It’s just not enough of a priority. Actions speak louder than words.
People keep bringing up that this is an either/or problem. As if the choices are
(1) tear down the garage, and build a huge bicycle fun park with retail
OR
(2) the garage as it was drawn
BS. :x You can have the same garage, but with retail and some bike accomodations on the first floor. Throw an extra floor on the garage and you haven’t even lost any parking spaces for cars. It’s not rocket science.
Edited to add this:
OK, since it seems that there is no way to fight/persuade people to fix this, how about this. If you are someone from the City with the ear of the powers that be, but don’t have the knowledge/statistics/photos/powerpoint presentation/video/whatever to convince them, let me know. I will drop all my non-work stuff (except walking my dog and eating) to put something together. Not that I have all the knowledge, but I’ll find it for you or work with you to get it done. If you don’t want to use your gov email, just get a free email account (like gmail or yahoo) and use that to PM me. I realize this is a real shot in the dark, but who knows? Even if it didn’t convince whomever needs convincing, it would be fun to try.
As for the mayor’s spokesman, I don’t buy it. You can rush and do something crappy, or wait an extra month (maybe less) and do something better. It’s just not enough of a priority. Actions speak louder than words.
People keep bringing up that this is an either/or problem. As if the choices are
(1) tear down the garage, and build a huge bicycle fun park with retail
OR
(2) the garage as it was drawn
BS. :x You can have the same garage, but with retail and some bike accomodations on the first floor. Throw an extra floor on the garage and you haven’t even lost any parking spaces for cars. It’s not rocket science.
Edited to add this:
OK, since it seems that there is no way to fight/persuade people to fix this, how about this. If you are someone from the City with the ear of the powers that be, but don’t have the knowledge/statistics/photos/powerpoint presentation/video/whatever to convince them, let me know. I will drop all my non-work stuff (except walking my dog and eating) to put something together. Not that I have all the knowledge, but I’ll find it for you or work with you to get it done. If you don’t want to use your gov email, just get a free email account (like gmail or yahoo) and use that to PM me. I realize this is a real shot in the dark, but who knows? Even if it didn’t convince whomever needs convincing, it would be fun to try.
Again, let me say that the current models for the two parking garages are not what I’d like to see in the area. I’d prefer the mixed-use ideas that Columbusite posted a while back.
However, I think we’re focusing on one small part of larger redevelopment of RiverSouth, which is in the process of being something kind of cool. The two garages aren’t the only thing planned for the area. A $38-million public park along the river will break ground in spring, and the mayor has at least proposed to add new housing units nearby.
Plus, the first phase of this project also includes changing four ugly one-way thoroughfares (Front, Ludlow, Rich and Wall streets) to two-way operation. That’s a good thing.
But this thread isn’t about all the other spectacular things happening in River South, this thread is about two crappy parking garages. So we’re going to piss and moan about two crappy parking garages.
Way to keep this thread on topic!
:wink:
I can’t imagine that it would really take a firm that much longer to design and draft a parking garage with commercial space on the first floor. Would it take a whole lot longer to build? And if it takes a month longer to build, wouldn’t it be worth it in the long run when you consider how long they’ll probably stand?
Hate to say this, but it’s very apropos: +1. Yes, whenever I want to go somewhere great when I visit a city it’s their parking garages. Michigan ave? I was too enamored by that parking garage on Ohio St. SoHo? I didn’t have time, I was just mesmerized by the garage on 32nd St. Good times.
What does he mean better than to “wait for something perfect”? Perfect would be NO garage and instead a vibrant city block consisting of residential, retail, a couple of bars and restaurants, you know, things you want to experience in a city. The garage with retail space and biking accommodation was the COMPROMISE since we didn’t want to do what great cities do. I thought politics was about compromises, not caving in.
The plain parking garage is a loss and more than that highlights the fact that Downtown is not valued and can continue to be crapped on by suburbanites. It also prevents businesses in prospective developments from wanting to be nearby because it creates yet a another rift in the urban fabric, in this case even before it has a chance to exist in this area once again. Pedestrians don’t want to and will not walk across a whole block of parking garage unless there is plenty worth going to on the other end. A continuous urban fabric is what enables vibrancy and a parking garage not only lessens foot traffic because it’s boring, but low foot traffic there increases perception of danger when its dark. The high number of parking garages Downtown has done nothing to bring more people downtown for decades, so to think that this will actually improve things shows a serious flaw in their thinking. Delaware, OH has a more intact/uninterrupted urban fabric than we do; they have three, count ‘em, three continuous blocks of “urban”.
Hey, why don’t we have a CU meetup in the Parking Garage District. I’m sure Mike can give us a tour and tell us about the interesting and unique history behind each one. Ahh, I’m being too hard on him, he’s just the spokesman after all, but at the same time he’s the one that said it.
I guess you’re right, but I’m not “beyond the point of caring what they do Downtown.” So I’ll bring up ancillary, connected issues surrounding this thread whenever I feel like it.
i understand that the gov’t will almost always get in the way to true progress as we would like to see it, but it just seems that the deals that took away the parking downtown were not just signed yesterday. how long can it really take to put together a plan for a reasonable, environmental and community conscious structure. Ii thinking that the city has had years to work this out if they had been thinking ahead about what they were doing at all. that should be enough time.