Phoenix is considering building a parking garage near the light rail line in midtown. It’s part of plan to renovate Park Central Mall.
The new property owners and Christine Mackay, the city’s economic development director, think the sprawling parking lot needs to go, but not the 2,400 spaces.
“We’re not really proposing to add new spaces,” Mackay told a city subcommittee. “We’re proposing to combine those spaces into a structure, taking away the heat island, removing all that asphalt, all that hot space that people have to walk over today.”
Mackay pitched a community facilities district as a way to pay for a new parking garage. If the city council approves, a 25-year bond could cover construction of the garage which would be publicly owned by the district until the city takes full ownership.
During the 25-year period, Phoenix would dedicate the city’s portion of construction, sales, rental and other transaction privilege tax dollars generated by Park Central Mall to service a portion of the debt for construction and management of the garage.
Here are the proposed contributions to service the debt:
City Participation:
Years 1- 6: 100 percent of city portion of eligible transaction privilege tax dollars.
Years 7- 25: 50 percent of city portion of eligible transaction privilege tax dollars.
Owner Participation:
Years 1- 5: $720,000 per year.
Years 6-7: $792,000 per year.
Years 8-25: $942,000 per year (Existing private agreement requires Dignity Health to make a financial contribution towards montly parking beginning in year eight).
Plans for the Phase I include a 300-room hotel, 220 units of multi-family housing, 100,000 square feet of office, and a 2,000 stall parking garage. The garage would be built in a flat design without using ramps so that floors could be used in other ways beyond parking, if needed in the future.
Plaza Companies and Holualoa Companies have pledged to preserve Park Central’s mid-century design while transforming 39 acres into a pedestrian plaza with distinct dining, shopping, and office districts. The companies said the overall price of the purchase and expected renovations is approximately $57 million.
