The downtown area of Saratoga Springs could undergo a substantial facelift in coming years if the city decides to pursue plans to build a public safety building and parking garage in the High Rock parking lot. The city recently asked developers to provide plans for those structures and surrounding city-owned land, and three responded.
Two of those proposals also feature a cinema, housing and retail spaces in the area near City Hall. According to those developers, the best way to pay for a multi-million dollar police station will be to institute paid parking in either the new garage or throughout downtown.
The developers presented their visions to the city council and the public on Friday, Nov. 21. All three would lock the city into a 30-year lease, at which point the garage and public safety building would be sold to Saratoga Springs for $1.
Yorkshire’s bare-bones bid
Clifton Park-based Yorkshire Properties presented a conservative option to the city that includes only a 600-space parking garage and public safety building.
Yorkshire proposed three designs for the police station. A three-story building with a court system built in would cost the city $1.093 million in annual debt service; leaving the courts out and making the third floor a shell would amount to a $998,000 price tag; and building a simpler, two-story structure and leaving the courts at City Hall would amount to $862,000 in annual debt service.
The Phinney Design Group presented a building that adhered to the architectural style of Saratoga Springs, with neoclassical and gothic influences. There would be a port for official vehicles and the loading and unloading of prisoners.
The parking garage would cost $1.093 million annually, and could also be built with five stories rather than three, leaving a small parcel at the south end of the High Rock lot for further development.
The public safety building would be `green` and LEED-certified, with passive heating and cooling systems, daylighting measures and possibly a green rooftop. LEED certification often provides grants and benefits from NYSERDA.
Yorkshire worked on the Clifton Park-Halfmoon Library, which recently attained LEED certification and saves approximately $66,000 in energy costs annually.
The developer did not suggest ways for the city to pay for the project, though their presentation noted that charging for use of the parking garage would be a sensible way to defer the cost of that structure.
Ideally, construction would begin at the end of next year’s track season, leaving the parking lot available for increased traffic, and both structures would be finished by fall of 2010.
Bonacio calls
for many meters
Saratoga Springs-based Bonacio Construction presented an idea that, in theory, would actually make the city money while adding a public safety building, 910-space parking garage, restaurant, cinema and a retail/apartment space.
The idea is to do away with the two-hour free parking downtown and replace it with an electronic metering system. If instituted before construction begins, it would provide enough steady revenue to pay for the lease for the garage and police station, with money to spare.
It would take around $2 million to install a system that would eventually cover 4,060 downtown spaces in the new parking garage, existing parking lots and along city streets. That could be paid with the $4.5 million Bonacio is offering the city for the project land.
Using national estimates, they figure once the 600-space parking garage is up and running, the city can pay a $2.7 million yearly debt service with parking revenues, and still have $600,000 left over. The cinema and businesses would provide tax revenue, as well.
Bonacio proposed a 50-cent-per-hour price for garages and lots, and $1 for street parking along Broadway, though the city would ultimately be in control of all parking. For downtown residents and workers, a limited number of $130 annual passes would be available.
Peter Cornell of the BBL Development Group said that paid parking would help mitigate downtown traffic.
`The majority of traffic in your city on Broadway is people cruising and looking for parking spaces,` he said. `If people know that the garage is less than Broadway, they’ll go right to the garage and go around Broadway.`
The group has presented requests for proposals, or RFPs, for a public safety building on four occasions, and this most recent proposal calls for a 32,800-square-foot structure with court facilities for criminal cases, including a basement entrance for prisoner intake.
Commissioner of Public Safety Ron Kim expressed interest in Bonacio’s plan after Friday’s meetings, saying that an immediate cash infusion would help with the city’s budget woes and that $4.5 million is `nothing to sneeze at.`
Kim said he was not ready to throw his support behind any plan yet.
`In these economic times, you have to look at the money first,` Kim said.
Bonacio presented a timeline showing the parking system installed in January, with all elements finished by late 2010.
High Rock Partners would scale to size
The High Rock Partners, a consortium of designers and money-men, was formed as a sort of dream team to come up with a High Rock proposal. Like Bonacio’s plan, High Rock suggested the public safety building be paid for by the institution of paid downtown parking, but allows for private operation of the parking garage by Standard Parking Corporation.
Forum Industries and Garfield Traub Development are heading up design for the group, with Phinney Design Group acting as architect. The team presented a 56,000-square-foot public safety building as a `Rolls Royce` design, though the city could scale it down to reduce the cost.
`This is the nicest, best facility that we could offer you,` said Stephanie Ferradino, an attorney representing High Rock.
`We’re presenting the absolute worst case, highest cost scenario,` said architect Mike Phinney, who said the design team would work closely with the city to meet its needs, especially in uncertain economic times.
The plans also call for a Zurich cinema, 850-space parking garage (that, too, could be scaled back) and 40 workforce housing units available for residents making less than $41,000 a year. An open-air market area in front of the parking garage was billed as a possible expansion area for the Farmers Market.
The garage would be connected to Broadway by a pedestrian walkway, linking the area to the main retail drag downtown.
`One of the problems with the farmers market right now is that it’s isolated from the main retail area on Broadway,` said Phinney.
Jay Rockman of Standard Parking said his workers would take over parking responsibilities for the city and also provide extra customer services to visitors and residents alike. His attendants would write tickets, collect fees and even hand out umbrellas and maps to parkers.
The cost to the city depends greatly on how big the project would be. With all the bells and whistles, the city would stand to pay $1.2 million yearly, including parking revenues. Scaling the project back to a 300-square-foot police station and 600-space garage would make the lease slightly revenue positive.“