Agenda Item
City Council
Item #: 7.3. 9/12/2023 File #: 23-0584
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THRU: Tom Kisela, City Manager
FROM: Christopher Cash, Public Works Director
1. SUBJECT
Consideration of Potential Grand Street Parking Lot Preliminary Design Alternatives and Recommendations.
2. SUMMARY
Preliminary plans for two alternate surface parking lot layouts were designed for the Grand Street Parking Lot, primarily situated on the Old Fire Station Headquarters site and adjacent public parking lots. The purpose of this report is to receive direction on design options and recommendations.
3. RECOMMENDED ACTION
Provide direction to staff on presented design options and acknowledge proceeding with finalizing plans and specifications for the construction of the Grand Street Parking Lot.
4. FISCAL IMPACT
None. While future construction of the parking lot improvements will have associated fiscal impacts, no funding is currently being requested. Funds in 553 Capital Bond Proceeds and Fund 954 RDA Bonds have been identified for both the demolition of the existing buildings on site and for the construction of the parking lot.
5. STRATEGIC PLAN GOALS
Goal 1: Provide for a safe community
b: Provide and maintain infrastructure necessary to ensure the safety of the public.
Goal 4: Provide outstanding public service
b: Provide facilities and services to meet customer expectations.
6. DISCUSSION AND BACKGROUND
With the relocation of Fire Station No. 1 and Headquarters (Fire HQ) to the new location on Water Street, the old Fire HQ currently sits empty. The former Fire HQ building is more than 50 years old and is seismically deficient. Its original utilitarian use as a fire station is not economically feasible for other commercial uses. The City had previously created a capital improvement project in anticipation of utilizing the former Fire HQ site, along with the adjacent existing public parking areas, for a bigger parking lot. The preliminary study of the site utilization as a consolidated parking lot is now complete and staff is seeking final direction from the City Council as to the size and scope of the project.
Two alternatives were evaluated for the Grand Street site encompassing most of the west side of City of Orange Printed on 9/7/2023Page 1 of 3
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Item #: 7.3. 9/12/2023 File #: 23-0584
Two alternatives were evaluated for the Grand Street site encompassing most of the west side of Grand Street from Almond Avenue to the public parking lot just south of the Community Services Department offices. The main difference between the two alternatives is that Alternative 2 includes demolition of the City owned apartment building at 124-142 S Grand Street to incorporate the site into the new parking lot. Details for the two alternatives are described below and presented per the site plans attached:
Alternative 1 (Alt 1)
Alt 1 will require the demolition of only the Old Fire Headquarters building. Alt 1 will create a total of 111 parking stalls, which is a gain of 69 stalls from the existing City parking lot. The engineer’s estimate for the construction is $1,676,600 including a 10% contingency and 5% construction engineering cost. The cost per parking stall is $15,100.
Alternative 2 (Alt 2)
Alt 2 will require demolition of the Old Fire Headquarters building and the apartment building. The apartment building is a 10 unit - two story building. Alt 2 will have a total of 165 stalls, which is a gain of 106 stalls from the existing City parking lot and surface parking lot south of the Community Services building. The engineer’s estimate for the construction is $1,994,500 including a 10% contingency and 5% construction engineering cost. The cost per space is $12,100. An added benefit to Alt 2 is the enhanced circulation of the parking lot. The proposed lot will connect directly to the existing City lot south of the Community Services building, thus creating ingress/egress points on Grand Street, Almond Avenue, and Orange Street.
A summary of the two alternatives is shown in the table below.
Alternative 1 Alternative 2
Demolish Buildings Old Fire HQ Old Fire HQ + Apartment
Total Parking Stalls 111 165
Parking Stall Net Gain 69 106
Construction Cost $1,451,600 $1,726,800
Construction Cost + 15%
Contingency &
Construction
Management
$1,676,600 $1,994,500
City staff recommends proceeding with the final design for Alt 2 to maximize parking space and overall circulation of the Grand Street Parking Lot. The additional parking spaces created will increase parking availability for the Old Towne/Plaza area.
In 2019, the City also evaluated the Grand Street site for an east Old Towne parking structure to complement the Old Towne West Parking Structure. The cost to construct a three-level parking structure was estimated to be around $16,070,000 for a total number of 405 parking spaces. With construction cost escalation of 50%, today’scost is about $24 million or roughly $60,000 per space, five times more costly than the proposed surface parking improvement.
Staff also recently completed the Old Towne Parking Study, which looked at parking supply for the Plaza area. The Study found that the short and medium-term parking supply currently meets the parking demand, however, it identified a likely shortfall of around 500-600 spaces if Old Towne is fully City of Orange Printed on 9/7/2023Page 2 of 3
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Item #: 7.3. 9/12/2023 File #: 23-0584
parking demand, however, it identified a likely shortfall of around 500-600 spaces if Old Towne is fully built out with high intensity parking uses such as restaurants. The Study suggests one potential augmentation to the City’sparking supply would be the development of the Grand Street Parking Lot as it represents a cost-effective and flexible solution. Based on the cost and the parking supply data, staff would not recommend a parking structure at this time as the construction of a surface parking lot provides a more cost-effective augmentation of parking. The addition of the added parking spaces should Alt 2 be selected is a 280% increase in the total parking supply. As parking is generally available in the Plaza area under most circumstances, this added parking should provide additional ease of parking access. If needed in the future, a surface parking lot can easily be repurposed for a parking structure if demand rises, or for other development opportunities as development conditions dictate and/or a better use for the site is identified.
If Alt 2 is selected for final design, staff will begin the process to notify residents of the impending closure of the apartment building and provide all appropriate relocation assistance and notifications as may be required. The final plan is expected to be completed by the end of this calendar year and the project could commence in the early part of 2024.
7. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
None.
8. ATTACHMENTS
· Parking Lot Layout
City of Orange Printed on 9/7/2023Page 3 of 3
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