NEWARK − In about a year, downtown Newark employees, visitors and residents will have a five-story parking garage available on South Fourth and Market streets, catercorner from the Newark police station.
The $10.5 million, 415-space parking structure will be built on about 1 acre of land owned by Newark Development Partners, one block south of West Main Street, extending to Market Street, across from Good Guys Garage and PPG Paints.
City, county and NDP officials staged an unofficial groundbreaking Wednesday, a couple weeks before Dugan and Meyers Construction Co. begins its work on the project. The construction area will be fenced off, and the 160 vehicle owners who use the area to park will have to find other spots until the garage opens.
Newark Mayor Jeff Hall said the parking garage will set back about 30 feet from the sidewalk on South Fourth Street and extend to the alleys on the edges of the property, which is one of the largest vacant pieces of property Downtown.
“You have so much ground and you have to best utilize the ground,” Hall said. “Building a little bit more vertical, especially with parking lots, is advantageous, so that you can turn around and use the available land for alternates like apartments.”
Initial plans for the parking garage were announced a year ago.
The parking garage property, along with almost 1 acre on South Third Street and a half-acre at the former Newark Advocate site on West Main Street, encompasses an area targeted for redevelopment in 2016, just prior to the demolition of The Advocate building.
Fred Ernest, executive director of Newark Development Partners, said plans for the 2.2-acre area also include 120 apartments and 20 condos.
The city has added housing Downtown in recent years and now has 90 loft apartments, with 19 more coming in the Arcade, more coming on Church Street and elsewhere, Ernest said.
Evans Foundation Chairwoman Sarah Wallace, whose family owned the land in the 1800s and into the 1900s, said the parking garage will have a noticeable impact.
“This is critical for Downtown,” Wallace said. “It allows us to bring more housing and ensure we have a beautiful, walkable Downtown. This needed to happen to make the housing option possible.
“I think we will start to see more people walking on the street and to restaurants, entertainment venues and housing, because it will enable people to have a dependable place to park.”
City Councilwoman Beth Bline, R-2nd Ward, said parking is usually the first question from outside business owners who plan to visit Newark.
“Parking has been the No. 1 piece in conversations with exterior businesses," Bline said. "Where can they park and can they park safely. It’ll bring a wonderful component to the city that will allow safe parking.”
NDP Chairman Dan DeLawder said developer Jerry McClain, president of Jerry McClain Companies, deserves credit for having the foresight years ago to acquire the land.
“He put together all the owners and paid a price to allow the company to take ownership of this property,” DeLawder said.
Many communities have issues with parking, but Newark deserves credit for taking action, DeLawder said.
“Instead of moaning and groaning, we decided to do something about it,” DeLawder said. “It’ll build capacity to grow and that’s important. People need a place to park.”
The city will operate the garage, but it has not been determined if there will be a charge for parking.
Paying for the parking garage includes a 30-year tax-increment financing (TIF) agreement approved by Newark City Schools. A TIF defers property tax payments in a designated area to pay for improvements. The city will receive 75% and the schools will get 25% of the payments.
Ernest said the housing development woud add very few children to the schools, because the demographics of the incoming residents are expected to be young professionals, professionals in transition, empty nesters, retired singles and couples.
The area is already in a Community Reinvestment Area, which provides a 15-year tax abatement for new builds and 12 years for remodels.
Ernest said half of the tax abatement that Newark Development Partners receives from the Arcade remodeling, or $66,000 annually, will be put into a special assessment for the parking garage and area infrastructure.
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