CdA agency buying property for garage project

Coeur d’Alene’s urban renewal agency is buying up downtown properties for the future development of a parking garage.

In a deal expected to close Tuesday, the agency will purchase the commercial building at 301 E. Lakeside Ave. on Wednesday for $625,000. The Olympia, a Greek restaurant, and other tenants will continue to lease the 7,000-square-foot building, said Tony Berns, the urban renewal agency’s executive director.

Eventually, the agency envisions recruiting a developer to build a public parking garage and retail shops in a two-block area bordered by Third and Fourth streets and Lakeside and Coeur d’Alene avenues.

Parking spaces are in short supply downtown, and demand is only expected to grow, Berns said. The agency, also known as the Lake City Development Corp., has met with property owners in the two-block area and is buying buildings as they become available, he said. The Olympia building will be the fourth lot the agency owns in the two-block area.

The agency picked the site for a parking garage for several reasons, Berns said. It’s centrally located and the city already owns a small parking lot in the two-block area, reducing the amount of private property that needs to be acquired, he said.

The city also hopes to eventually purchase the U.S. Courthouse at 205 N. Fourth St. from the federal government, Berns said. Planning is under way for a new courthouse, with a projected opening date of July 2008.

Since the existing courthouse is protected as a historic building, it would be incorporated into master plans for the new garage and retail space.

Berns said he doesn’t have a timeline or cost estimates for the parking garage. It’s a long-term project, he said, and its timing will depend on how quickly the need for downtown parking grows, and how soon the urban renewal agency can acquire private properties.