City council approved the look and design master plan of a toned-down Baker District redevelopment at a special meeting Wednesday night, but it was the familiar issue of Downtown Guelph parking that cast a shadow on the progress.
The plans approved Wednesday will eventually see at least 138 public parking spots from the current inventory. The project was initially supposed to add to the downtown parking inventory.
It was also supposed to hopefully include partnerships with the YMCA and Conestoga College, which is no longer currently on the table.
“It was always supposed to add to the parking inventory downtown. Instead it’s taking away and that’s a disappointment,” said Marty Williams, executive director of the Downtown Guelph Business Association.
The Baker Street and upper Wyndham Street lots currently have 294 parking spaces. Both of those will close for archeological excavation work on Oct. 1.
When finished, the Baker District will have 156 underground public parking spots.
Williams said the parking inventory reduction would be closer to 200 once lost on-street parking is considered.
Antti Vilkko, general manager, facilities and energy management with the city, said 156 parking spots is the maximum that can be built on city-owned land underneath the new library.
Williams said the Baker project has “lost its vision over the past 15 years or so.”
Gone are any talk of the YMCA or Conestoga College being involved, Williams said. Buildings the city had talked about acquiring on upper Wyndham to make the project larger never came to fruition. Added parking is now gone.
“Now it’s a condo development that could happen anywhere in the city,” he said. “It’s too special an opportunity to make it a condo development with a new main library.
Downtown board chairman Will McTaggart said the Baker District as it stands might actually hurt downtown as opposed to helping it.
Williams said build the library but “go back to the drawing board” on the rest of the project.
He added that downtown is becoming uncompetitive with the rest of the city when it comes to attracting office work because of the cost of parking.
“We are driving office workers out of the downtown core,” he said.
A smaller footprint, rising costs and underground bedrock constraints all played a role in reducing the number of parking spots, staff told council.
Deputy CAO Jayne Holmes pointed out that over 120 parking spots were added in the Wilson Street parking structure and the city is currently undergoing a parking plan master plan update that could lead to future inventory being planned.
Baker District will feature a new library standalone along Chapel Lane and Baker Street, two residential developments fronting Baker Street. There will be two public squares.
The city's public cost of the project is $105 million, with $11.5 spent to date.
The city expects the development, once complete, to bring over 600 new residents to downtown in 371 new dwelling units, and result in $4.2 million in annual downtown spending.
The redevelopment of the property is expected to bring in $1 million annually in property taxes.
Council approved $15.9 million ($7 million from parking fees and $8.9 million from taxation source) for those 156 spaces. The developer, Windmill, will be covering the cost of 260 underground spaces that will be used for the new residential portion of the project.
Cost of the public parking spots has increased from an initial estimate of $75,000 to $102,000 each, city treasurer Tara Baker told council.
Councillor Cathy Downer put forth a successful motion at the end of Wednesday’s meeting that the upcoming parking master plan update include a review of the parking demands downtown.
The Baker Street parking lot and the Wyndham Street lot will be closed Oct. 1 for the archeological work.
Specific site plan designs and applications are expected to be submitted to the city by Windmill Development late next year.
