Photo by Walker Evans.

The empty Marconi Parking Garage may finally be coming down. The crumbling 650-space parking structure located at 170 Marconi Boulevard was condemned in April 2016 after being declared unsafe for use, and purchased by Nationwide Realty Investors (NRI) just a few months later.

NRI is now asking the Downtown Commission for a certificate of appropriateness to move forward with demolishing the 56-year-old four-story building to replace it with a temporary surface parking lot.

“We intend to demolish the condemned garage this fall,” stated Carli Lanfersiek, Marketing Director at NRI. “Our long-term plan is to redevelop the site, but at this point, we do not have a specific development plan or timeline.”

Generally, the Downtown Commission frowns upon the demolition of existing buildings for the purpose of surface lot parking. According to the Downtown Design Guidelines:

“Non-accessory parking lots are not an appropriate replacement use for razed building.”

That hasn’t stopped the Commission from making occasional exceptions to the rules. In 2016, The Day Companies were permitted to demolish a building at 90 North High Street to make a new pedestrian alley, but the land is being used as a surface parking lot in the interim. Given NRI’s track record with infilling surface parking lots in the Arena District with new infill development, and the current parking garage’s existing function and condition, the demolition likely won’t receive much in the way of pushback.

The Downtown Commission will review the demolition proposal at tomorrow’s monthly meeting.

Stay tuned to CU for additional updates.

Photos by Walker Evans.