Seattle consultant picked for Olympia parking garage

Olympia: Heartland worked on East Bay

MATT BATCHELDOR; The Olympian | • Published July 22, 2009

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OLYMPIA – The Olympia City Council voted Tuesday to pay a Seattle real estate consultant up to $85,000 to help the city find a private developer as a partner on a new parking garage.

The council agreed to authorize City Manager Steve Hall to negotiate and sign a contract with Heartland LLC for the work.

Heartland can lend expertise that the city doesn’t have to work on the project, said Keith Stahley, director of Community Planning and Development for the city.

“From our perspective, what they bring to the table is an access to other development partners that we may not be aware of,” he said. Hiring Heartland would “deepen the pool” of potential private developer candidates, he said.

Stahley said Heartland also could help implement the downtown plan consolidation that the city approved in June.

Heartland is the same consultant that has worked with the Port of Olympia on its East Bay redevelopment project, something it touted in a statement of interest it sent to the city in May.

“We believe that our substantial experience working with public agencies on catalytic redevelopment efforts makes us an ideal firm for the project,” the statement says.

Hall’s plan, which the council approved last week, is to find a development partner by September for the garage and come to an agreement by December. A location for the parking garage has not been determined.

Hall hopes to find a developer to build a garage, and the city would lease and eventually buy the structure.

To help fund it, the council agreed last week to begin charging $1 an hour in what’s now a 90-minute free parking zone downtown.

The council plans to pick a vendor for the new pay boxes by December and put the boxes up by March. Unlike traditional coin-operated meters, the boxes issue receipts that drivers display in their parked cars as proof of payment. There is expected to be one box per block.

It’s one part of a larger city strategy to raise parking rates in preparation for the garage.

Matt Batcheldor: 360-704-6869

mbatcheldor@theolympian.com