Rummel said Otto Gebhardt has agreed not to include structured parking as part of his building, allowing more space for other uses. Tenants would then likely lease parking from the city’s structure during the day, opening it up for public use and hourly parking at night.

“It would be more of a multi-use structure,” Rummel said.

Parking Utility engineer Bill Putnam said there are still a lot of details to be worked out, including the desire to have retail or commercial presence in the ground floor of the facility to activate that part of Main Street.

“We are definitely trying to be sensitive to the aesthetics and have it not just look like a parking garage, like our Government East garage does,” Putnam said, referencing the aging ramp downtown.

He said MG&E is also interested in having access to the top level or roof for solar panels, which would additionally mean less snow clearing for the city on the top deck.

“It’s exciting for us to kind of branch out into a new area that has a lot of development potential,” Putnam said, noting the city’s efforts to revitalize the East Washington Avenue corridor. “This is one step in that process.”