Parking! Parking! Parking! (15. June 2006, 14:57 by Derek Young) ~ Parking
At this week’s city council economic development committee meeting, the topic of discussion was downtown parking and, more specifically, what do we do with our two amazingly ugly parking garages. The result appears to be the development of a plan to turn Park Plaza South into a more mixed-use type of building with parking, commercial, and retail space. Park Plaza North seems to have been left out for now. It’s a start. Even more interesting is an exploration into the possibility of a parking structure on the Municipal Dock side of the Thea Foss that would use the Murray Morgan (11th Street) Bridge to connect with downtown.
Committee chair and councilmember Rick Talbert liked the idea, but added, “It needs to add to the experience the [Foss Waterway Development Authority] is creating. I don’t want to recreate one of these parking garages down there.â€
Hmmm… we’ll see.
Then, since we’re talking about parking, here’s your opportunity to have your voice heard. There’s a public forum on June 22 at Club Zoe from 4pm to 7pm to discuss the issue of parking with residents, merchants, and city staff.
The last time I mentioned parking here, a few of you had opinions…
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Another example of wasted land space. I would much rather see the garages come down and have underground parking and mixed use on top. I say do it that way now or leave them be until this city has grown up enough that is can handle a larger development on the sites.
I guess Pacific Ave. isn’t the prime real estate I thought it was.
1 | Posted by Jake | Jun 15, 03:10 PM
Park Plaza South is a disater downtown as are many of the parking garages.
They have created whole swaths of dead spaces.
The sparse retail under them has a portion of the parking garage looming over making the area very dark and unfriendly.
Not too surprising that the vacacny rate is high under and around the parking garages.
Another section of Pacific Avenue by 9th street has a huge dark cavernous portion of parking garage facing the street.
I have not had a chance to review the new parking lot proposals. However, hopefully they will be designed better, much better.
2 | Posted by Erik | Jun 15, 04:55 PM
The irony being that the city tied the revenue stream from “The Parking Garages That Would Not Die” to finance the construction bond of the City’s new convention center…
3 | Posted by morgan | Jun 15, 05:39 PM
“The irony being that the city tied the revenue stream from “The Parking Garages That Would Not Die†to finance the construction bond of the City’s new convention center…”
Sad.
Hopefully, one or more of them will be replaced soon to help try to breathe some (more) life onto Pacific and 9th streets.
Then there is Commerce Street which has zero commerce.
Some architect 30 years ago must have drawn up a great looking artist rendition to sell those parking garages.
4 | Posted by Erik | Jun 15, 05:55 PM
If I recall Pacific Plaza Development LLC was going to fix up the garages and just add 2 floors of office space on top.
I think that is the biggest waste of time and money ever. Tear the things down. Take advantage of the prime Pacific Ave. frontage and the 400 ft height limit.
I would much rather see the city spend some more money and get it right with the other developer than to leave those things standing any longer.
5 | Posted by Jake | Jun 15, 07:55 PM
“If I recall Pacific Plaza Development LLC was going to fix up the garages and just add 2 floors of office space on top.”
Really? I hope more than that will occur or it isn’t going to help much.
The retail spaces on Pacific need to come out flush with the side of the parking garages.
Cave dwelling retail has not been working for the last 30 years.
The council will need to vote on this. Hopefully, they will implement the right plan.
6 | Posted by Erik | Jun 15, 08:49 PM
I think I found the parking garage proposals. 8/25/2005 TNT article:
http://www.bcradesign.com/File.ashx?cid=212
However, I don’t know if the proposals have changed at all. The Pacific Plaza proposal is not as radical. However, it would offer a market improvement.
7 | Posted by Erik | Jun 15, 08:59 PM
When the Park Plazas were built, they (along with freeways cutting across downtown areas) were thought to be the only way to revitalize the dying downtowns of the era. How amazing that our urban planning philosophy has made such a dramatic shift in just 30 years—now that the focus is on creating spaces for people and not for cars.
9 | Posted by drizell | Jun 15, 11:40 PM
How amazing that our urban planning philosophy has made such a dramatic shift in just 30 years—now that the focus is on creating spaces for people and not for cars.
Yes. True.
No one drives somewhere to park.
They go to an area because something is attactrative to them in the first place.
I heard that they knocked out a slew of cool old buildings when they built the parking garages.
Does anyone know what was there on Pacific?
10 | Posted by Erik | Jun 16, 12:24 AM
There used to be TONS of cool old buildings downtown.
Under a movement called Urban Renewal that lasted from the 50’s to the 90’s, many of these buildings were demolished.
The City of Tacoma actually paid to have privately owned buildings torn down. Amazing but true. The thinking was that it would make it easier for developers to come in assemble some land and build a mall or something like that.
The Tacoma Public Library has a very cool database with photos and info on many of these buildings – it’s not the prettiest interface, but it works:
http://search.tpl.lib.wa.us/buildings/
Ok. I just reviewed the complete plans for South Plaza Parking facility below the Tacoma Financial Center on Pacific.
The plan is to retrofit and not tear the structure down.
One has to look past all of the gloss of a design proposal to try to get to the actual structure.
However, with that said, it looks nice and looks like it might actually “work.”
The proposal has continuous retail spaces on Pacific.
The retail spaces are pushed out toward the street and extend FURTHER out than the wall of the parking structure. This is a critical component I believe.
There are office spaces on the top of the structure and two more floors of parking.
The current structures either have no retail or the retail is placed 20 feets BACK of the main wall of the parking structure creating a cave like environment.
Hopefully, the city will implement the plan soon.
12 | Posted by Erik | Jun 16, 11:57 AM
Where is Prium when you need them? They seem to be the only developers that think parking should be underground. I don’t think people understand that once these parking garages are dressed up and only 2 floors of office are built on top, that is what we get forever! This is the CBD, it is downtowns main drag, buildings should be tall (400ft height limit), parking should be underground. I just think this plan is a BIG mistake.
I think the city should just wait and do nothing for now if they are even thinking of going with this plan.
We also need people living in this part of Downtown. I don’t think there are any residentail units in the Downtown Business Core.
13 | Posted by Jake | Jun 16, 12:20 PM
“I think the city should just wait and do nothing for now if they are even thinking of going with this plan. ”
Maybe. But that plan would have costed $38M v. 17M.
I think they are considering a tear down for the larger northern garage and building a large building.
14 | Posted by Erik | Jun 16, 01:42 PM
“How amazing that our urban planning philosophy has made such a dramatic shift in just 30 years…”
I would like to think that we have progressed in our thinking over the past 30 years…
...only the City wants more parking garages.
Share your thoughts here:
http://www.tacomachamber.org/page.asp?view=3401
16 | Posted by morgan | Jun 20, 02:25 PM
Commenting is closed for this article.
- Posted:15. June 2006, 14:57
- Author: Derek Young
- Category:The-Politics-of-Development
- Comment Status:Closed
