Cost overruns for the long delayed February One Parking deck are on the agenda for the Tuesday, Feb. 21 Greensboro City Council meeting.
The City Council is being asked to approve a change order for $5.8 million in the contract with Elm Street Hotel LLC for the construction of the parking deck, which fronts on East Market Street and South Davie Street.
According to the agenda, “The change order accounts for unforeseen conditions encountered during construction and additional items required to complete construction of the parking deck.”
On December 2017, the City Council authorized the city manager to allocate up to $25.8 million for the construction of the parking deck. In December 2020, the City Council approved $37 million in bond financing for the 720 space parking deck, which was estimated to have a total cost of $36 million. At $36 million the cost per parking space was about $50,000 each, compared to about $30,000 per parking space for the parking deck on North Eugene Street, which was approved at the same time and opened in June 2021.
The $5.8 million in additional costs was the result of issues caused by the basement foundations and demolition rubble of the old S&W cafeteria that required soil remediation, shoring walls, additional utility relocations and ground water management.
The agenda attachment states, “The original design had to modified to allow for a different foundation system that responded to the site conditions and add IT room required to support the security camera system. Additional changes include adding upper floor security, fencing, emergency phones, electric vehicle charging stations and reconfiguration of office space.”
The $5.8 million represents an 18.3 percent increase in the city’s expenditure.
The completion of the parking deck is “expected” in March 2023 and the completion of the Weston Hotel on top of the southern portion of the parking deck is June 2024.
(The image is a rendition of the proposed parking deck from March 2018.)
This is nothing but make-work for the faithful. Visit most any existing city parking lot – you will see LOTS of empty spaces. Not hard to find a spot on the street, either.
Just send the taxpayer the 5.8 Mil. We know how to spend it without filtering it thru the govt bureaucracy.
What’s a few million dollars more?
I won’t live to witness it but my bet is the $1,700,000,000 bond for schools will be woefully short of the actual cost, like almost every project paid for with our tax dollars.
How many of our elected officials have their stinky lil fingers in this money pie? First, never elect a bar attorney to be anything, much less a lawmaker, Then don’t elect banksters and real estate ‘agents’ locally. Just sayin’
Another expensive city council SNAFU.
for what we have enough now
5.8 million today …. Then “something” else pops up…. Oh wait , it has popped up already – we just ain’t got the bill for it yet ….unreal !!!!
Why are taxpayers paying for a parking deck for a private enterprise, a hotel? Let the hotel investors, like Randall Kaplan. husband of Kathy Manning, pay for it themselves. City Council members are so corrupt. The tax money does not belong to the City Council. City Council members are elected to spend the money wisely. When they do not, they should be ousted. However, their backers want them to remain in place so the same old voters, influenced by the backers, are dutifully brought out to vote. I am sure Tammi Thurm will show her allegiance to Kaplan and Manning and vote for more money to be spent for the benefit of the hotel investors, just as in 2017.
So much money being put into that project that should name it after Zelensky
If you want to understand watch speech in 2013 Rosa Koire Agenda 21. It takes some effort to watch more than and listen to 1and a half hours, but it’s worth the time.