The city is continuing to examine a site for a new municipal parking deck at the corner of Bangs Avenue and Bond Street [shown above], according to Don Sammet, the city’s director of planning and development.
No details are available on the potential purchase price or the status of negotiations to purchase the property. The council has been considering the purchase in closed executive session.
A private development project there was slated to include two levels of parking with a four-story building on top, but the developer defaulted and a bank now owns the land, which is on the market.
The subsurface space for parking has been constructed and the floor for the ground floor has also been installed.
“If you look at it from Bond Street, you’ll actually see a ramp leading down,” Sammet said. The first floor would have housed both commercial space and parking.
Helping the city evaluate the structure for use as a deck is Jim Watt, the Asbury-based architect for the original developer. Watt said he’s donating his time to assist the city.
The lot sits close to a state-owned parking deck located farther east on Bangs Avenue. The city has access to some of the spaces in that deck, which is primarily used by workers in the state building across the street.
