Trade Center Authority asks council to approve master plan for new parking garage; council seeks clearer numbers

The Columbus Trade Center Authority asked the City Council on March 25 to adopt a master plan that would add a new structured parking facility intended to support the Trade Center, future convention activity and downtown hotels.

"Parking has been something that has been on the Trade Center plan since 02/2004," Trade Center Director Haley Tillery told the council, summarizing a multi‑year effort and saying the authority has an RFP vendor selected to start detailed discussions. "The key thing is a plan for the future. But one thing that's desperately needed is accurate parking," Tillery said.

Why it matters: The proposal ties downtown economic development to additional parking capacity and to a potential future convention hotel. The authority is asking council to endorse the master plan so it can negotiate final costs and next steps. The plan would use $3.5 million from a 2003 Columbus Building Authority bond series (described in the report as 2003 B bonds) together with $5 million from the voter‑approved Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) passed in November 2021.

Project scope and funding: City staff and the Trade Center authority described a goal of roughly 500 parking spaces (the 2003 bond language referenced an earlier figure of 300 spaces, but adding the SPLOST funds increases the total). Councilors and staff confirmed the authority’s planning target is about 500 spaces, "give or take," not 300.

Council debate and concerns: Council members questioned project cost estimates and operational details. Councilor Tanner (asked as an example) relayed a construction industry estimate that a new structured space could cost around $50,000 per space for a ground‑up build; a councilor said she had been told by a construction company that a 500‑space structure at $50,000 per space would cost roughly $25 million. Council members asked whether the existing Marriott hotel would reserve an allocation of spaces in the new garage and whether such reserved spaces would reduce public availability.

"There has been no agreement with the Marriott as far as parking dedicated to that hotel at all," Tillery said; she added that discussions with hotels and potential partners are ongoing. Several councilors told Tillery they wanted a clearer, consistent description of the plan’s parking count and of any agreements that would reserve spaces for a hotel.

Amendment and procedural outcome: Council adopted an amendment to clarify the agenda summary and the project description to show the combined funding would target approximately 500 spaces, rather than referring only to the 2003 bond’s original 300‑space figure. The amendment passed unanimously. When the Trade Center master plan itself came up for a vote, the council’s voice vote was inconclusive and the council deferred a final decision to a future meeting, asking staff and the Trade Center Authority to return with clearer budget and agreement details and to schedule follow‑up public meetings on corridor and stormwater impacts. Trade Center Director Tillery said convention revenue has funded recent building upgrades and that the authority planned to proceed with additional vendor negotiations once the council signaled support.

Next steps: City staff said they will schedule a public meeting on Eighth Street corridor and stormwater improvements and will work to finalize cost estimates and hotel/parking agreements. Councilors asked for clearer cost projections, confirmation of where patrons will be directed to enter and exit the garage, and a timeline for RFP‑level cost estimates and designs.

What was not decided: The council did not authorize construction funding on March 25. Members asked staff to return with more detailed financial numbers and with explicit hotel‑parking arrangements before a final vote.