Study: Garrahy parking garage would cost $43M

THE REDEVELOPMENT OF the Garrahy Judicial Complex parking lot into a 1,250-space parking garage would cost approximately $43 million, according to a special legislative commission report. Above, a layout of the proposed garage drafted by Fuss & O'Neill on behalf of the General Assembly commission. / COURTESY FUSS & O'NEILL
THE REDEVELOPMENT OF the Garrahy Judicial Complex parking lot into a 1,250-space parking garage would cost approximately $43 million, according to a special legislative commission report. Above, a layout of the proposed garage drafted by Fuss & O'Neill on behalf of the General Assembly commission. / COURTESY FUSS & O'NEILL

PROVIDENCE – The proposed transformation of a surface parking lot next to the Garrahy Judicial Complex on Dorrance Street into a seven-level parking garage will cost approximately $43 million, according to a study released Wednesday by a special legislative commission.

The garage would include approximately 1,250 parking spaces at a cost of $31,250 per parking space, the report stated, in addition to the cost of building out roughly 13,800 square feet of retail storefronts on the ground level of the garage along Clifford and Richmond Streets.

Interstate-195 Redevelopment District Commission Chairman Colin Kane has previously described the Garrahy parking garage plan as necessary to prevent the roughly 20 acres of former highway land known as The Link from remaining vacant, a view echoed in the special commission study.

“Given the prime geographic location of the Garrahy site, this property has been identified as a key location for structured parking to support existing and future development-driven demand in the Link area,” the report stated.

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Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee’s proposed fiscal year 2015 budget included support for both the Garrahy parking garage project and a separate but related project to build two new R.I. Public Transit Authority bus hubs, including one that will likely share a location with the Garrahy garage.

Under Chafee’s plan, both projects would be financed through borrowing – right now $40 million for the bus hubs and up to $45 million for the Garrahy garage. The budget called on voters to approve the bus hub project in a November referendum, while the R.I. General Assembly, not voters, will decide whether to go ahead with the parking garage.

To view the complete conceptual analysis of the Garrahy garage plan, visit www.rilin.state.ri.us.

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