At a crowded meeting last night in Saratoga Springs, local residents and members of the city council heard presentations on two competing designs for a downtown parking garage.
The need for more downtown parking has been widely acknowledged. As the Saratoga Springs City Center is pursuing plans to build a parking structure to support its events, others in the community, including mayor Joanne Yepsen, have asked for a mixed-use structure that would also satisfy parking needs.
Yepsen, whose office issued the RFP for the two proposals presented Tuesday night, said the city is trying to do its best with a very limited piece of property.
"So actually the council decided three things; to set up a technical review committee, which we have done. They have met once and they will meet again this week, just to determine the matrix and the criteria by which these proposals would be evaluated. Second, we're going to do an appraisal to find out what this High Rock lot from Lake Avenue to the Mouzon House is worth in a public appraisal. And then thirdly, we are doing the public presentations that are happening this evening," said Yepsen.
Under the guidelines set by the RFP, the projects presented must satisfy criteria that include 600 parking spaces, and must also include commercial and residential space.
The City Center is pursuing its project through a separate process for the 2.6-acre parcel that sits beside High Rock Park.
First up Tuesday night was a proposal by developers The Community Builders and Syracuse-based Paramount Realty Group. Richard deVito is principal of Paramount.
"We knew that this site was very special and that it had many elements to the design that needed to be articulated. And one of which was this promenade," said deVito.
The proposal, called High Rock Village, would feature a promenade connecting the neighboring Mouzon House restaurant, Lake Avenue, and Maple and High Rock Avenues, as well as the proposed Greenbelt Trail. It would include 166 units of housing: 64 senior apartments, 42 spaces marketed to young professionals and families, 36 condominiums, and 24 market-rate apartments.
The plan would also call for three levels of parking to accommodate 607 vehicles — 259 dedicated to the City Center.
Developers plan to lease the site under a 30-year agreement.
The second project was presented by groups Hyman Hemispheric and Sequence Development. The plan did not feature a detailed rendering Tuesday night, but instead the developers are seeking a design process with public input, according to Sequence CEO Jeff Buell...
"We want to create spaces that activate the street fronts and really allow this site to become a part of the Saratoga Springs community. We think that the best way to do that is to engage the public. Every public process improves the project. We don't want to design this thing in a vacuum, and we want to deliver something here that everyone could be proud of," said Buell.
Outlined in the project is 38,000 square feet of green space, four levels of office space with room for 150 to 300 employees, and five levels of retail space with an estimated 100 units. The plan would feature 656 parking spaces.
Hyman and Sequence are seeking to purchase the 2.6-acre lot from the city for $2.6 million.
After the plans were presented the city council shared some concerns about both proposals. Commissioner of Public Works "Skip" Scirocco and Finance Commissioner Michele Madigan asked for a connector to the City Center. Madigan and Public Safety Commissioner Chris Mathiesen also warned of the limited amount of space in the lot. Mathiesen suggested the development could limit any future expansion of City Hall.
City Center president Mark Baker said both designs would not provide enough parking for the City Center.
"This would not meet the needs as we've designed them and from the parking studies we've done, there exists, with the 280 surface spots, a significant deficit already. So when you add additional mixed use on top of that, the number of the deficit goes up," said Baker.
Baker said the City Center's proposal would supply 480 spaces for the center and also preserve a portion of the parcel that is currently used to park police and city-owned vehicles. The City Center would share revenues from the paid garage with the city and would also provide a $50,000 annual lease payment.
The City Center Authority, which is pursuing its project through the city's land-use board, will appear in City Hall Thursday for a site-plan review.
