BOSTON – State Senator Michael R. Knapik said yesterday that the $1.4 billion Senate Transportation Bond includes funding for a downtown parking garage to “boost economic development in Westfield.”
Knapik said the Senate transportation bond bill is similar to the $1.56 billion bill passed by the House of Representatives.
The House and Senate will appoint a conference committee to reconcile the differences between the two bills. The Legislature has already released the Chapter 90 funding in the Transportation Bond bill which was signed by Gov. Deval Patrick, releasing those funds.
Westfield, under the Senate version of the bond bill, would receive $3 million “to assist with construction of a 500-space parking (garage) in the city’s downtown core, known as the Gaslight District,” Knapik said.
“This project will complement the many projects that are transforming the downtown commercial district, such as the recently completed Great River Bridges and Parks project, as well as the reconstruction of Elm, Broad and Main streets,” Knapik said. “The parking garage will also accommodate the 600 plus students from Westfield State University who have been moved into housing in the city’s downtown.”
Knapik said the $3 million will complement appropriations of $4 million made in earlier transportation bonds.
City Advancement Officer Jeff Daley said this morning that the parking garage will be designed to support the proposed Elm Street project, which will stretch from Arnold to Church Street.
The only existing building that will not be included in the proposed project footprint, at this time, is the Church Street Commons.
Daley said that the preliminary estimate of the new building will be a five-floor, 75,000-square-foot building that will house a mix of commercial, retail and residential space.
That building could have more floors or a larger footprint, both of which would increase the number of parking spaces. City ordinance requires one space for every 300 square-feet of building space.
“A five-floor building with 15,000 square feet per floor would need 250 spaces to meet the requirements of city ordinance,” Daley said.
The proposed parking facility, based on the area of the Arnold Street parking lot available for that development, would have sufficient area to accommodate 125 spaces per floor.
Daley said that based on “high-end” per space industry standard for parking facility construction, a three-floor garage with 375 spaces would cost about $10 million, while a four-floor, 500-space facility would come with a price tag of $12.5 million.
The Pioneer Valley Transportation Authority, in conjunction with the city, has hired a Boston-based consulting firm, HRS, Inc., to conduct a feasibility study for the project to replace the present commercial buildings on Elm Street, next to Arnold, with a new building that will have retail, business office and residential space.
In late 2010, the PVTA secured an approximately $427,000 Massachusetts Department of Transportation grant for the Elm Street project, with approximately $175,000 slated for the development of a Joint Development Master Plan. That plan would include a mixed-use development and transportation center on the 2.8 acre site, which now consists of empty storefronts, the old Newberry’s site, the bowling alley building on the north side of Church Street and the apartment/commercial building on south side of Arnold Street . The remaining $252,000 will be utilized for preliminary engineering plans for the project.
The city has retained Hayes Associates to complete an urban renewal plan that will become the blueprint for the project.
The City also received a “brownfields” grant to remove petroleum and lead from the soils beneath the site. The state has notified city officials early this month of a commitment of $480,200 to remove contamination for the Elm Street property. Mayor Daniel M. Knapik said the brownfield grant is being issued to the city through MassDevelopment.
“This project is important to the local economy,” Knapik said. “This is a great opportunity to create jobs while boosting the city’s downtown and make much needed infrastructure improvements.”
