In a city crunched for parking, an empty, AT&T-owned downtown lot seems like a prize worth fighting for. And with parking frequently a dealbreaking issue for businesses that are considering downtown locations, city officials were especially interested in buying the central, underutilized parcel.
But city authorities, after initially declaring their intention to bid on the prime property, have said “no thanks.”
When the AT&T lot went up for sale in March, the city had registered as a bidder, on the recommendation of the Hartford Parking Authority. But James Kopencey, HPA’s executive director, said every possible building scenario – from simple surface lot to multi-story garage—would result in red ink for the city by 2012 at the earliest.
One major hurdle is AT&T’s requirements for the sale – certain prerequisites the company requires of whoever buys the land. According to the real estate offering, the buyer must provide 80 free parking spaces and as many as 120 more discounted spaces for occupants of the AT&T building at 111 Trumbull St.
Kopencey said those and additional requirements made the lot too expensive for the city.
Jonathan Putnam, a broker with Cushman and Wakefield, said he also couldn’t discuss the bidding process, including how many other bids the company may have received for the lot.
The property, located between CityPlace and Bushnell Park, could potentially provide a flood of new parking spots in a prime location. That’s important, considering a lack of parking can be a major deterrent to businesses looking to locate in the region.
A tight parking situation was one of the factors that prompted MetLife to leave CityPlace for roomier digs in Bloomfield. AT&T put the lot up for sale after MetLife had already received approval for building plans in Bloomfield.
The purchase agreement is a factor, Kopencey said, but additional costs dampened the outlook even further.
Any garage on that site would have had to be built in a U shape, or the buyer would also have to acquire a former Pearl Street Synagogue that juts into the space. That location, bogged as it is with extra requirements for buying and building, didn’t make sense for the city, he said, especially considering the already-skyrocketed price of building in general.
The Morgan Street parking garage, for example, was built in 2001 and cost $13,500 per space, excluding certain extra costs, Kopencey said. Now that same per-space number is $25,000 because of higher materials and fuel costs.
Lee Erdmann, the city’s chief operating officer, said the city’s analysis had come to the same end as Kopencey’s: the costs of purchasing the lot and building the garage outweighed the revenue it would eventually make.
“That garage would not be self-sustaining,” he said.
Kopencey said he’d like to see a private entity take on a parking project on that lot, but had no indication if that would happen. As for the city, Kopencey said officials were scouting around for other possibilities that could loosen up the downtown parking crunch.
“It’s in our best interest to find another location,” he said.
Downtown Rates Drop
The cost of building parking garages may have jumped, but individual parkers downtown can expect easier rates at the city’s MAT and Church Street garages starting July 1. As of a City Council approval on June 11, rates at those garages will go from $7 down to $3 for the first two hours of parking. Daily rates at the MAT Garage will go from $19.25 to $16.25. Later on in the month, on-street meter rates will go from $1.50 to $1 an hour.
But law-breakers will have to make up the difference. Overtime fines will do up from $15 to $25. Kopencey called it a “paradigm shift” for parking. Previously, he said, a law-abiding parker would pay more to park in a garage all day than someone who just parked illegally and got a $15 ticket.
