Council discusses Aspen Street lot as potential parking structure site amid Campus Corner development interest

Council members and staff discussed possible short- and long-term uses for the Aspen Street parking lot near Campus Corner during the Sept. 25 Community Planning and Transportation Committee meeting, including short-term leases, validation programs, and the possibility of a parking structure tied to a Center City tax increment financing (TIF) strategy.

The mayor and council members heard that the lot is underused much of the year but is heavily used for game-day activities; staff said Campus Corner merchants currently lease some game-day spaces for vendors. Staff reported interest from a development group and said a meeting with that group was scheduled for the week following the committee meeting.

Staff outlined short-term options: lease spaces to nearby apartment developers or merchants on an annual or long-term basis (similar to an existing Grey & Peter Street lease), offer spot leases for businesses, or use pay-station validation codes to allow merchants to validate customer parking. Staff noted the city already leases 151 spaces at the Gray & Peter lot to building tenants and charges seasonal game-day rates for the Aspen lot under a current arrangement.

Longer-term, staff raised the idea of a vertical parking structure on the Aspen Street site, potentially expanded by assembling adjacent skinny parcels to the south. Council members and staff discussed whether property in Campus Corner could be added to the Center City TIF area or whether an amendment or a new TIF would be needed; staff said capturing TIF increment from redevelopment could help finance a parking structure.

Councilors and staff discussed trade-offs such as game-day leases versus seven-day-a-week residential leases, validation and business-account options in the city's pay-station platform, and the potential to use a parking trust or revenue bonds to finance structure construction. Staff said Grama Street and the Aspen lot are identified as potential structure sites in earlier parking studies, and that assembling nearby parcels would improve feasibility.

Staff said the food truck operator who leases a nearby space has a lease ending in December; staff said the upcoming meeting with developers should clarify near-term prospects and that they would return with recommendations and potential financing structures to the finance committee for discussion.

Council members emphasized that improving parking supply near Campus Corner is tied to encouraging housing and higher-density development; one councilor said parking solutions would allow developers to build more housing units rather than surface parking. Staff said they will bring back a combined parking-management plan update and follow-up with a finance-committee discussion on a potential parking trust and bond financing.