A thousand new spaces to park on Rosemary Street

COMMUNITY NEWS

CHAPEL HILL –“There’s more parking than ever before in downtown Chapel Hill,” boasted Alex Carrasquillo, Chapel Hill’s Media Relations Manager, in an email interview.

The town’s new $51 million public parking deck at 125 E. Rosemary Street opened August 26 and boasts 1,087 spaces, 20 EV chargers, and multiple bike racks.

Starting in November, the deck began charging for parking on the deck between 8 AM and 8 PM, Monday through Saturday. Parking is free the first 30 minutes, followed by $1/hour for the first two hours. After that, the rate rises to $2/hour with a maximum of $18 per day or $30 per special event. Paying with a credit card requires a 30-cent fee per transaction—the meters also accept cash—and there’s an extra $10 to leave a car parked on the deck overnight.

Chapel Hill Mayor Jess Anderson said earlier this year that consolidating so much parking in the new deck will free up surface lots “for better, cooler, more exciting things like apartments and a new hotel that are planned for that block.”

The town’s website says the deck also “creates new possibilities for smaller properties where redevelopment has been stymied by the need to include parking on-site.”

The town gave advance notice of parking fees so that drivers could plan ahead, and the public seems to have adapted well: “We’ve received positive feedback about the rates.”

Land swaps, COVID, and parking: a project history

Chapel Hill acquired 125 E. Rosemary in a land swap with Grubb Properties for two parcels on the other side of the street. One of the parcels holds Chapel Hill’s Wallace Deck, with 307 parking places. Grubb plans to develop the two parcels into a commercial office building and scientific wet lab.

The council began studying the possibility of a new deck in 2018-19. Initial cost estimates ran between $25 million and $30 million. The 2020 pandemic forced Chapel Hill to postpone the start of construction. By 2021, when planning resumed, construction industry costs had rocketed higher. Chapel Hill eventually approved $39 million in bond financing, with guarantees from the contractor the project costs would rise higher.

The guarantees didn’t hold. As with many construction projects, there was a surprise in store.

“Once we tore down the old parking garage,” said Carrasquillo, “we discovered that the bedrock wasn’t where studies had predicted, so we had to redesign the foundation system for the project. That resulted in a significant delay.”

It also increased costs. Chapel Hill had to take out another $12 million in bond financing to complete the project.

Crunching the numbers

The town’s 2020 FAQ on the project said the city-owned parking across the street generated more than $1 million in revenue each year. With more spaces, 125 E. Rosemary was projected to bring in between $1.9 and $2.3 million annually, becoming revenue-positive by 2026. Due to the delayed start and increased costs, Chapel Hill doesn’t anticipate a positive cash flow until 2033.

What we’re getting

The new deck not only has more spaces than Wallace, Carrasquillo said, but “visitors will notice that the deck is easier to navigate. Electronic signage tells drivers how many spots are available in each direction.”

Also, the roof is solar-ready so it could eventually accommodate solar panels. “This is something we’d like to identify funding to do in the future.” The covered porch along E. Rosemary could eventually become an event space.

Carrasquillo said the town’s been encouraged by the number of folks parking in the new deck, though they haven’t collected hard figures on usage yet. “What we know for sure is that there’s more parking than ever before in downtown Chapel Hill and we encourage folks to come enjoy the many special businesses downtown.”

Fraser Sherman has worked for newspapers, including the Destin Log, the Pensacola News-Journal and the Raleigh Public Record. Born in England, he’d still live in Florida if he hadn’t met the perfect woman and moved to Durham to marry her. He’s the author of several film reference books and has published one novel and several short story collections.
This reporter can be reached at Info@TheLocalReporter.press