Key points:
• The Norcross City Council approved a more than $2.5 million construction budget for an expansion of downtown parking near city hall.
• Construction is anticipated to add 68 spaces and a plaza by next summer.
• The Norcross Downtown Development Authority has acquired the necessary properties to complete the project.
The Norcross City Council approved a construction budget between $2.6 million and $2.8 million to expand “much-needed” parking near city hall and the historic downtown district.
While elected officials have not approved a final design and contract, construction on about 68 new spaces and a plaza is expected to begin this September and conclude next June.
City hall parking expansion
Public Works Director Len Housley told council members that he is still working with the Norcross Downtown Development Authority and Columbia Engineering to add a few more spots.
Housley said he thinks the project will come in under the approved budget, and doesn’t want to have to come back and ask the council for more money.
Council Member Josh Bare said he supports the existing plan, which removes a magnolia tree to add a few parking spaces.
“I definitely think we need to be a tree city [certified by the Arbor Day Foundation],” Bare said. “But there’s a balance here. And so if there needs to be an exception here that we make for ourselves, it makes sense to me. I feel like we’re headed in the right direction.”
Council members approved the budget amendment unanimously. They will discuss design refinements at their April 20 policy work session.
Uniqueness of downtown
Stephanie Newton, the city’s downtown manager and director of cultural arts and tourism, serves as the local government’s liaison to the Historic Norcross Business Association.
“Addressing the parking challenges is a huge thing that the city is working on with the downtown businesses,” Newton said. “It’s always an issue in a historic downtown, because you want to preserve your historic buildings and that historic feel. But the reality is, most of our population and visitors are driving cars … and we want to accommodate as many visitors as possible. So that’s always a bouncing act.”
Next month, the downtown manager plans to bring an item before council to make public parking signage more uniform across downtown with universal blue “P” signs.
Newton said business owners also harp on the need for more foot traffic downtown, tying the issue to parking and regional competition with other metro Atlanta suburbs.
“Places like downtown Roswell and downtown Woodstock … they’re a little farther in their development as destinations,” Newton said. “Downtown areas are becoming hubs of cultural experiences … So efforts like our Bluesberry Festival are very much part of that, where you’re offering a cultural experience that downtown is just a perfect backdrop for.”
DDA’s sustainable model
Norcross Downtown Development Authority Chair Jim Eyre said he describes the organization as “the real estate arm of the local jurisdiction.”
The Norcross DDA recently purchased 9 South Peachtree and has acquired 29 Jones Street in the heart of downtown. It also owns a couple of parcels off Wingo Street, assembled for the city hall parking project.
“Those are now being developed as additional parking that will have access through what is the existing parking lot for 29 Jones [Street],” Eyre said. “So again, we’re trying to assemble parcels that allow us to expand downtown parking.”
For Norcross to bring more foot traffic and community energy into downtown, it needs to ensure storefronts are activated and customers have access.
Eyre said the DDA is currently leasing 29 Jones Street, but is planning to put it and 9 South Peachtree on the market for a potential sale later this year.
“The intent is to retain the area that is a parking lot and then sell the building,” Eyre said. “Basically, what we’ll do is roll those funds back into another yet-to-be-determined project. As our financial advisor says, ‘the job of the DDA is to rinse and repeat,’ and so that’s kind of what we’re going to do with these buildings.”
