The University of Houston’s drive to build a parking garage may be close to an end as the UH System Board of Regents’ Administration and Finance Committee is expected to vote on a $25.8 million proposal Tuesday, Aug. 3.

The proposal calls for the construction of a four-story, 519,000 square-foot garage. It would be located at the north end of Parking Lot 1A at Calhoun Road and University Drive near Entrance 4 and the Hilton University of Houston Hotel, according to Dave Irvin, associate vice president for plant operations.

Depending on the project’s final cost, the garage would accommodate 1,200 parking spaces, or the university could expand the garage by 93,000 square feet for an additional 300 spaces, Irvin said. Although the university would lose 450 spaces from the current parking lot, the campus community would gain 750 to 950 parking spaces, Irvin added.

The garage, which would be nestled among oak trees, would be “a mixed-use structure that would help to enhance campus life,” Irvin said.

It would include a 22,000 square-foot “one-stop” academic services center, which would provide information on enrollment, financial aid, registration and academic advising. The garage also would house a 2,000 square-foot visitors’ center, and 12,000 square feet would be available for retail space, Irvin explained.

“There will be great synergy with all parts of the building — retail, the visitors’ center and the academic center,” Irvin said. “Visitors will be able to buy tickets for different events on campus, while prospective students and their parents will be able to learn more about admissions and financial aid.”

Most importantly, Irvin said, users would be able to park in a highly secure environment. Administrators plan to install video cameras and blue light security phones throughout the garage, and a UH police officer would be stationed at the building, Irvin said. He added that
the lighting would be nearly twice as much as the average garage lighting.

To finance the construction, UH will increase existing parking rates —which are raised by 2 percent per year —to 4 percent per year, beginning in fiscal year 2004. The garage’s annual parking rate for faculty and staff would be $350 and $200 for students. Visitors would pay a $2 hourly rate up to $8. Retailers also would pay to lease space at the garage.

Irvin is optimistic that the regents’ administration and finance committee will approve the proposal at Tuesday’s meeting. After approval, the committee would forward the request to the full Board of Regents for a vote at its Aug. 19 meeting at 8 a.m. in the Athletics/Alumni Building. If approved, administrators hope to break ground in January 2005, and the project would be completed the following January, Irvin said.

“The university would do everything it can to make the process as painless as possible,” he said, adding steps have already been taken to help those who currently park in Parking Lot1A.
In the summer, UH added 763 parking spaces across campus in anticipation of the loss of spaces in the lot.

The proposal is the result of numerous discussions and hearings with various groups and organizations, including the Student Government Association, and a parking study that indicates UH needs 1,300 parking spaces for its current campus population, according to Irvin. The study also forecasts that the deficit would increase to at least 2,300 by 2010 as the campus community grows, he said.

Initially, the first recommended site was Lot 15D West at the corner of Holman and Scott streets, near the proposed site of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County’s (METRO) light rail station. However, administrators decided to delay that project after learning it would take until 2007 or 2008 for METRO to begin building the light rail station.

Francine Parker
fparker@central.uh.edu