Menlo Park: Council weighs designs for parking garage Menlo Park: Council weighs designs for parking garage (April 20, 2005)

By Rebecca Wallace

Almanac Staff Writer

How low can it go? And how high?

These questions will be bandied about on Tuesday, April 19, when the Menlo Park City Council is expected to weigh in on what kind of parking garage would be best for downtown.

Consultants have been studying possibilities for a garage on parking plaza 3, located on the north side of Santa Cruz Avenue at University Drive.

There's Option A, a multi-level, above-grade structure; B, a multi-level structure with a basement; and C, a garage with one level at grade and one basement level. Space for commercial development could be added to either A or B.

Construction costs could vary between $6.6 million and $13.1 million, according to a staff report by public works director Kent Steffens. Basement parking, for example, is pricier due partly to excavation costs, he wrote.

There are other factors to consider: a three-level garage with commercial space could have 125 parking spaces, he wrote. One without commerce could have 183.

To see a copy of the report, go to www.menlopark.org, click on "City Council" and go to the April 19 agenda. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at 701 Laurel St.

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