City View: Mixed-use parking facility designed with Columbia’s future in mind

Last month, the City Council held public hearings on the proposed mixed-use downtown parking facility at Fifth Street and Walnut Street. The project is a continuation of the city’s commitment to downtown revitalization and sustainability. The proposed facility features an eight- or nine-story structure with an underground lot for the police department, street level office and retail space and 661 upper level parking spaces at an estimated cost of $15 million. Special Obligation Improvement Bonds, repaid through City parking revenues, would fund the project without raising taxes.

The city would bid out the marketing and management of the commercial space. There would be no subsidization of rents. Businesses operating in the facility would pay fair market value for the space and pay the same taxes as any comparable business.

In 2001, an independent parking study evaluated downtown parking conditions and assessed future parking demands. On typical workdays, 70 percent of parking spaces in the central business district were occupied. However, the downtown area north of Broadway was nearing 77 percent and higher during jury duty calls at the Boone County Courthouse. The study forecasted as downtown continued to develop, parking occupancy would average 75 to 80 percent, and the area north of Broadway would reach 80 to 85 percent occupancy.

Studies show that anything over 80 percent capacity will cause drivers to spend more time and fuel looking for parking spots, which will eventually dissuade them from driving downtown to shop, eat or do business. We are fast approaching those numbers. In fact, the city currently has waiting lists for permit parking in all but one city garage and one surface lot.

The expansions of City Hall and the Boone County Courthouse will further increase parking demands. The City Hall expansion seeks to create a one-stop shop for city services. To do that, we must provide parking for customers, employees and fleet vehicles that are currently located in leased spaces throughout the community.

The city originally planned to add two stories to the parking plaza between City Hall and the Courthouse on Walnut Street, but new earthquake codes made it cost prohibitive to do so. One of the other parking areas recommended for expansion in the 2001 study was the City-owned surface lot on Walnut Street between Fifth and Sixth streets.

As the city looked at this option, we took into account the Land Use and Urban Opportunities Study of the Campus-Downtown District (otherwise known as the Sasaki Plan) and the work of the Downtown Citizen Topic Group during Columbia’s vision process. Both of these plans envision an economically and culturally vibrant area that feature an easily accessible mix of commercial, professional, cultural, residential and institutional facilities, and supporting goods and services, that make downtown a premier place to live, work, play, shop, study and invest.

A key to turning vision into reality is the ability to accommodate all forms of transportation. While the city actively seeks to promote alternate ways to “GetAbout Columbia,” including bicycling and walking, we cannot ignore the need for traditional parking.

The challenge is to build a facility large enough to accommodate current and future needs in a manner that uses available space efficiently. One approach was to incorporate the Sasaki Plan recommendation to build taller, mixed-use buildings. As the City Council considered this option, they were justifiably concerned that the project must complement the look and feel of the downtown district. The inclusion of street level retail space is a creative and effective way to avoid the “dead space” that is often associated with parking structures.

When council approved moving the project into the design development phase, they instructed Walker Parking Consultants and Peckham and Wright Architects to pay special attention to the quality and aesthetics of the structure’s facade. The design phase should be concluded by the end of the year.

If council decides to move forward, there will be a construction bid phase and, possibly, a concurrent bid for the management of the retail space. Another round of public input and hearings would be held in early spring with construction starting summer 2009.

Many wonder why the city would undertake such a project in the current economic climate. The fact is concrete, steel, labor and construction costs are never going to be cheaper, and our community is not going to get smaller. Columbia now has more than 99,000 residents. As cities reach populations of 100,000, they tend to grow exponentially. We must continue to invest in projects that support our community vision and prepare us for the changes coming to downtown.

For more information on the proposed parking structure, the Sasaki Plan, vision report and parking studies, visit www.gocolumbiamo.com.