Difference Of Opinion Consultants Report Shows Price Tag Of Marlins Parking Facilities To Be 62 Million More Than Previous Pitch

By Risa Polansky
Parking facilities at a new Marlins ballpark could cost $62 million more than the price pitched to elected officials early this year, according to a consultant’s report.

The $94 million, 6,000-space parking garage the City of Miami had planned for the new stadium could become a $156 million combination of smaller garages, surface lots and a retail component, the report shows.

Despite estimates from experts, City Manager Pete Hernandez maintains parking facilities could be built for around $94 million.

"I’m still holding to that figure," he said, noting that designs for the garages are still in the works, making costs uncertain.

But the report from consultant Jones Lang LaSalle shows that, even last year — months before officials named the lower total — parking experts projected the garage could run as much as $150 million.

Each space in a 6,000-car garage could cost $25,000, according to October 2007 Miami Parking Authority projections included in the report.

The report contains also parking options prepared by parking specialists TimHaahs, including the one consultants say Mr. Hernandez chose: three garages that would offer 5,054 spaces and $14 million worth of retail, along with a handful of surface lots providing 950 spots.

Under that plan, each garage space would cost more than $26,700.

The Marlins are to get 250 spaces free for their own use and are to rent the rest of the spots from the city for about $10 each during every home game for the first five years, generating more than $4.6 million a year for the city.

The price goes up every year after that, to about $12.50 by year 31.

Mr. Hernandez said earlier this year that a $94 million garage would pay for itself.

He said this week that Convention Development Tax dollars would cover what parking revenues won’t — "maybe as much as half." Advertisement