County moves forward on more parking

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County moves forward on more parking

County News

Wednesday, 29 December 2010 13:27

ParkingGarage_122810-copy

News-Gazette Photo/Andrew Sullivan
Osceola County recently approved the start of negotiations with Kraft Construction, a construction management firm, for the planned new parking garage that will be built east of the county administrative building.

By Marvin G. Cortner
Editor
Osceola County is continuing to move forward with construction of the planned $15 million, 900-space parking garage at Courthouse Square in downtown Kissimmee.
The garage will be east of the county administration building, with the main entrance planned for Bryant Street. The former county child development center and the former Herring Carpet buildings have already been razed in advance of the project.
The parking garage is the first part of a master plan for Courthouse Square that eventually will include a new county administration building, expansion of the court system into the current county administration building and another parking garage.
On Dec. 15, the Osceola County Commission in a special meeting agreed to negotiate with Kraft Construction Company as construction manager at-risk for the parking garage project. Balfour Beatty Construction was selected as the second-ranked firm should negotiations with Kraft Construction be unsuccessful.
Other firms vying for the project were: Barton Malow/Hunter General Contractors; Turner Construction Company/Construction Services of Central Florida; and Clancy & Theys Construction Company. County staff should have a contract with Kraft Construction ready for commission consideration in three to four months.
Decisions made about garage
In a joint city of Kissimmee-Osceola County workshop, also held Dec. 15, the commission made a number or decisions about the planned parking structure:
• The county for the immediate future will forgo development of six commercial spaces on the first floor of the parking garage (as required by city code) along Emmett Street and the area facing the current administration building. However, a retail-type façade (only along Emmett Street) as well as interior utilities will be included in the project to allow easy conversion of the space later on. Until that conversion happens, the space intended for eventual office, retail or food service use would be used for parking.
• The county when it opens the parking garage will not charge fees, thereby avoiding overflow parking issues in downtown Kissimmee, where parking is now free (both in city lots, in the City Centre parking garage and along city streets).
County staff recommended that no fees be charged for parking because: the garage initially would not be fully occupied; the tough economic times; and the impact on surface parking in other downtown areas. However, the county will include infrastructure in the garage to allow charging for parking sometime in the future.
• County staff and the commission will continue looking at the feasibility of including solar panels atop the parking structure as a way to generate electricity for the building‘s internal use. Options for a bus pull-off lane at Courthouse Square on Emmett Street also will be considered further.
Discussion about retail/office space
County Commissioner John Quiñones said he was worried about adding more retail competition in downtown Kissimmee amid difficult economic times.
Commissioner Michael Harford said any business the county would allow to operate from the parking structure would be a “catalyst” for additional development downtown. He also said he would like to see the space used for county business, such as an eventual employee health clinic or a “one-stop shop for permitting.”
“I do believe it will end up being a stimulus,” Harford said.
Commissioner Fred Hawkins Jr. said doing just the facade for now would be the right thing to do until the economy improves.
“I’m not sure I want local government in retail,” Hawkins said.
Commissioner Frank Attkisson said he would defer to the city on whether the county should fill the commercial space now or later.
“The last thing I need to do is make existing businesses struggle,” he said. “I don’t want a Starbucks, for example, that would mean other coffee shops would struggle.”
Kissimmee City Commissioner Jerry Gemskie said a problem was created on U.S. Highway 192 when The Loop opened, with the new retail outlets and restaurants there, taking customers away from existing businesses.
“The businesses downtown are a little nervous with the vacant storefronts on Broadway,” Gemskie said. “Now is not the time for competition.”
Mayor Jim Swan said it would be prudent for the county to prepare the garage for future use by businesses but not do retail now because of the competition it might generate.
Parking issues
In urging the county to stick to the free parking in the new garage initially as well as on county surface parking lots, Swan said to do otherwise would produce “huge unintended consequences” as courthouse visitors or employees would seek free parking elsewhere.
Quiñones said providing free parking would be the “easy thing to do” but that the county needs to consider a fee to help offset operational and maintenance costs for the garage.
Attkisson said he supports what the city wants in terms of parking and that he “wants to listen to the merchants.”
Hawkins said to charge employees or the public to park at Courthouse Square would be “like raising taxes,” something he would not be willing to do.
Commission Chairman Brandon Arrington said the county does not need to charge the public to come to the courthouse for business and that he would not want to charge county employees for “coming to work.”