A new 490-space parking garage is coming to downtown Huntsville. The municipal garage will be built in 2019 on a City-owned parking lot bounded by Greene Street, Holmes Avenue and Lincoln Street (Lot D) and will accommodate monthly, daily and hourly parking needs.

“We’re seeing increased demand for new office, lodging, and residential space downtown,” said Mayor Tommy Battle. “Having more people live and work in the central core is what we’ve been working toward through our BIG Picture and downtown master plan. Parking is a key piece of that growth strategy.”

Architectural designs for the new parking deck, to be called the Greene Street Parking Garage, were presented to the Huntsville Planning Commission and approved at the October 23 meeting.

The project includes 16,000 square feet of space for first floor retail and a small plaza area at the northeast corner of the property where Holmes Avenue and Lincoln Street transition into the Old Town Historic District.

Matheny-Goldmon Architects were tasked with designing a multi-level parking structure that complemented the site’s historic and residential surroundings.

“We gave great consideration to the surrounding context, and believe we have successfully integrated the historical character of the neighborhood into the design, from the overall articulation of the facades to the mullion patterned screening and brick details,” said Paul Matheny.

The cast in place structure also includes new streetscaping and improvements to the intersection of Holmes and Lincoln. Entrance to the garage will be from Greene Street with an exit onto Lincoln Street.

For parking patrons, the facility will be equipped with state of the art parking control equipment.

General Services is on track to bid the parking project in November with construction starting in January 2019 and finishing by December 2019.

The City expects the ground floor retail component of the project to be bid separately, as a “request for proposal” (RFP).

Parking & Public Transit will accommodate existing monthly parkers in Lot F and anticipate returning them to the new garage when construction is complete.