Downtown Raleigh businesses fret over parking deck's future

Zoom in: The Wilmington deck, located next to the Marbles Kids Museum, is especially popular with visitors as well as employees who use the small-business parking program, which subsidizes some parking for workers.

• It is the deck that takes advantage of two-hour free parking the most, according to data from the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, and has seen a 37% increase in use since the program started.

Driving the news: Jonathan Frederick, CEO of Marbles Kids Museum, tells Axios the museum received notification Friday from city officials that a bid had been made on the Wilmington Street deck and that it could be considered at the July 7 council meeting.

• A spokesperson for the city of Raleigh confirmed the city recently received an offer to buy the deck, while it was preparing a request for information on the future of the deck.
• "We understand the interest in the city-owned parking decks," Julia Milstead, a spokesperson for the city, said in a statement. "We also understand the tremendous tax burden on residents regarding the on-going maintenance and operation of these structures."

What they're saying: Frederick says the loss of free parking in that deck would have a ripple effect across downtown and opposes the move.

• "Eliminating this option creates real barriers, especially for families traveling with young children, and cannot be replaced by parking blocks away or with routes through the bus station," he says, noting that around half a million people visit the museum every year.

Flashback: In March, a proposal from city staff called for the shortening of free parking, changes to the small-business parking program, and the raising of parking rates to address a shortfall in the parking operations budget.

• Business groups in downtown pushed back on the proposal, and ultimately the budget maintained two free hours of parking and the small-business parking program.

Zoom in: Anna Grace FitzGerald, owner of Copperline Plant Co. on Hargett Street, says the Wilmington deck is a critical asset for both employees and her customers.

• "I think it would be a pretty significant hit to a lot of these small businesses, especially if the other parking decks don't have the capacity to take us in," she tells Axios.

Between the lines: The debate around the Wilmington Street deck is also influenced by the nearby transit station and the parking deck attached to it.

• Businesses worry that visitors and workers would be less likely to use the Moore Square station deck due to perceived concerns over safety. The Moore Square area still has not returned to pre-pandemic visitation numbers, according to the DRA.
• The city hired private security at the Moore Square bus station after a string of incidents. There were 97 assaults in the bus station's block last year, The News & Observer noted, a number that is up from before the pandemic.
• At the same time, though, it is one of the busiest areas in all of downtown, with many businesses and tens of thousands of bus riders coming through it.

What's next: Bill King, CEO of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, said his organization is concerned with the potential speed of a sale of the Wilmington Street deck.

• The alliance is encouraging the city to finish its parking study and keep the deck under city ownership.
• "Selling some of these parking assets is reasonable for the city to consider to address their resource deficit," King said in a statement. "But this deck may be the best example of how a city-owned deck can support downtown."