Concern grows as Raleigh considers selling the downtown Wilmington Street Parking Deck
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The City of Raleigh is considering selling a downtown parking deck that is part of its free two-hour parking program, raising concerns among some businesses and advocates about the potential effect on visitors.
The Wilmington Street Parking Deck is one of five city-owned decks that offer free two-hour parking. According to a city spokesperson, a potential buyer made an offer for the deck while the city was preparing a request for information to evaluate its option as officials work to address a multimillion-dollar parking shortfall.
That offer will be presented to the Raleigh City Council for consideration in early July, meaning the deck could ultimately be sold.
For visitors like Tegan Reed, the free parking program is a reason to come downtown. Reed drove from Fayetteville with her son River on Monday to visit Marbles Kids Museum and parked at the Wilmington Street deck.
ALSO SEE | Raleigh weighs multimodal fix for Six Forks congestion as area growth continues
"It's much nicer. It's much, it's much more of a motivator to come out here," Reed said of the parking program.
She said parking costs can add up for families visiting downtown attractions.
"You add on the prices of tickets to go in and play, and then you add what you pay for parking, and that turns into a costly amount," Reed said.
Bill King, president and CEO of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, said he is concerned about selling the Wilmington Street deck before the city determines the value of its other parking facilities.
"So we have a lot of concern about selling this particular deck without yet knowing what is the value of all the other decks the city owns, right? There could be an opportunity to sell a different deck that would have a less adverse impact on visitors and may actually get them as much, if not more money," King said.
King has supported the city's free parking program and said the Wilmington Street deck has benefited from the initiative. He said usage at the deck has increased and that the program has helped attract visitors downtown.
"There's about a 37% increase in users of that deck. And we surveyed users of that deck last fall. 40% of the transit users on that deck said they were parking there and they visited because of the free to air parking program," King said.
The possibility of a sale has also raised concerns from downtown stakeholders, including Marbles Kids Museum, which hosts more than a half-million visitors each year.
"We're very concerned because we hear all the time how much families like right across the street, thanks to the city's incentives like discount parking, free parking makes all the difference to families looking to save a little bit of money," said Jonathan Frederick, CEO of Marbles Kids Museum.
The city declined an interview request until the offer is presented to the council, but said there are several other free parking decks downtown.
"We understand the interest in the City-owned parking decks. We also understand the tremendous tax burden on residents regarding the ongoing maintenance and operation of these structures. Even with proposed increases to hourly, daily, and monthly rates as part of the City's adopted FY27 budget, there still remains a gap in funding to support the ongoing maintenance and operational needs," a city spokesperson said in a statement. "In March and April, our Transportation Department explained the intent to put out an RFI (request for information) on the Wilmington Street Station Parking Deck, one of 10 parking decks within the City parking system, to see if there might be any interest in buying the facility. During the preparation of the RFI, the City was presented with an offer to purchase the Wilmington Street Station Parking Deck that will be presented to the City Council for consideration of starting the statutory upset-bid process."
