AUBURN – A plan to borrow $5 million to build a 400-space parking garage on the northeast corner of Great Falls Plaza will go before the public Monday.

The garage would meet the city’s current and future downtown parking needs, said Assistant City Manager Mark Adams.

“This is something we’ve planned on doing for a very long time,” Adams said.

The city would sell $5 million in bonds to pay for the design, engineering and construction. The debt would be spread out in payments of between $200,000 and $400,000 per year over 25 years.

Councilors are scheduled to vote on the bond issue Monday after a public hearing during their meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.

The city already has parking at Great Falls Plaza – about 812 spaces. But 288 of those are borrowed from developer Tom Platz, and they are scheduled to go away next year.

“When that happens, we go from having a good supply there to a parking crunch,” Adams said.

The rest are either privately owned or committed to monthly parking pass holders, the Auburn Esplanade or the Hilton Garden Inn. That means the 155 hourly customer parking spaces for downtown businesses would dry up.

“If you want shops and restaurants there, as opposed to the outskirts of the city, you need to provide spaces for customers,” Adams said.

Hourly parking needs are expected to increase by about 50 spaces as the downtown gets busier. Platz plans to build the first of four office buildings in the plaza beginning late in 2005, and city will need another 300 spaces for that building alone.

Even without the Platz building, more parking spots would be needed, Adams said. “Parking is one of the limiting factors for economic development. It’s like having utilities built in. Businesses need to have those things before they move into a new area.”

Increasing demand

The city’s first garage, Mechanics Row, was built in 2002 for $6 million. But those 448 spaces won’t meet the demand in Great Falls Plaza, Adams said. He expects city and school offices in Auburn Hall and development along Court and Main streets to fill the Mechanics Row garage.

“You can have parking, but you have a problem when you don’t have parking where people need it,” he said.

The new garage would be built to expand, Adams said. The city would build three levels to start, but could add as many as four more on top. It would also be operated differently than the Mechanics Row Garage. Drivers would be met by a gated entrance and an attendant, and would pay to park. Mechanics Row parkers can just drive in to the garage.

In all, the Great Falls garage would be expected to bring in about $85,000 in parking revenues. That wouldn’t cover the $125,000 annual cost of running it or the average $300,000 debt service from the bond issue.

Those costs would be covered by annual TIF revenues from the Great Falls Tax Increment Financing District – about $190,000 from the Hilton and an estimated $141,000 from Platz’s new building, Adams said.

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