The city took yet another major step forward toward its plan to build a parking garage in Uptown.
On Tuesday, Nov. 24, the Sedona City Council voted 6-1 to approve a professional services contract with Gabor Lorant Architects Inc. in the amount of $1,518,050 for the design of the Uptown parking garage located at 460 Forest Road. Councilman Bill Chisholm voted against it, stating in part that he’d rather wait to see how other parking mitigation proposals play out before moving forward with the garage.
The design phase is expected to be completed by early 2022, while construction is set to be done by spring 2023.
“We are excited to see design beginning for improvements that will address a significant parking need,” City Engineer Andy Dickey said prior to the meeting.
The plan to have a parking garage in Uptown has been in the works for more than a year. The Sedona City Council approved the purchase of 460 Forest Road for $410,000 in June. The city had purchased the adjacent property located at 430 Forest Road in April. The proposed parking garage will straddle those two lots.
Staff had been negotiating with the owner of the 460 Forest Road parcel and reached terms for the potential purchase of the property.
A report states the terms outlined in the agreement for 460 Forest Road reflect best and final offers from each party and are now presented to the city council for consideration and approval.
In late February, council directed staff to create a design for a two-story, three-level parking structure to be built on those purchased lots. The bottom story would be below ground level, or subgrade, and above would be ground level with uncovered parking on the roof, or third level. In all, it would look like a one-story structure nearly 12 feet high.
The cost of the 272- space garage is estimated at $11.5 million, which includes construction and land acquisition. Once a design and an additional cost estimate is complete, council will then vote on whether or not to approve construction of the garage.
“Let’s finally do something and let’s not kick the can down the road,” Vice Mayor John Martinez said in February. “That’s what we’ve been doing for 20 years. Let’s get a garage done.”
