By Michael Lafleur, mlafleur@lowellsun.com
LOWELL -- City officials say they expect the new Middlesex Street parking garage to open by the end of this month.
Also, City Parking Director Chuck Carney said financing the $24.6 million bond issue required to build the 900-space garage will not increase municipal garage or parking fees. Carney said any future hike in parking rates will be tied to the operational costs of his department, rather than the need to pay off the bonds.
He said he currently does not foresee the need for a parking-rate hike in the 2009 fiscal year, which begins July 1, 2008.
The city last increased its parking fees in 2004, and Carney said he anticipates another hike will have to be enacted within the next three years.
"All our costs are going up," he said.
Carney said about 100 of the 900 spaces in the garage will be allocated free to entities that negotiated legal agreements with the city to avoid eminent-domain land takings.
These include the Boston-based Architectural Heritage Foundation, which is renovating the former Hamilton Manufacturing Co. complex into apartments and condominiums, and Verizon, which has offices adjacent to the garage.
Carney said his "conservative estimate" is that about 400 additional garage spaces will be leased by the end of the current fiscal year.
"You'd be surprised the calls we're getting, for demand," he said.
Assistant City Manager Adam Baacke, director of the Division of Planning and Development, said problems with scheduling a time for National Grid to connect the new garage's electrical service has delayed the facility's opening date. It was originally expected to happen by the end of December.
"That's really the only thing that's holding us up at this point," Baacke said. "Unfortunately, it's a lengthy process."
He said he expected to hear a more precise turn-on date from National Grid sometime today.
The delayed electrical connection has had a ripple effect, he said, as further internal electrical wiring and the testing of the garage's elevator and other systems cannot begin until the facility has electrical power.
"We're going to push to make all this happen as quickly as we can, but it could be anywhere from four to six weeks from when we have the power to when we're able to roll open the doors and have everyone parking in the building," he said.
Baacke said city officials have yet to firm up leases for the 17,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space that is included in the garage.
DPD officials this fall confirmed they are in negotiations with representatives for several different restaurants and other businesses interested in leasing commercial space in the facility. Baacke said those talks are continuing. He said city officials hope to update the City Council's economic development subcommittee in the near future. A new council takes office on Monday and shortly thereafter will be appointing subcommittee members.
This story appeared in the Lowell Sun on Thursday, January 3, 2008