The City of San Luis Obispo is making some changes to the downtown area with the start of a new parking structure project. The new 163-thousand-square-foot parking structure will be on the corner of Palm, Nipomo and Monterey streets.
Construction has started, and it’s set to be finished by the end of 2025.
Brian Nelson is the City's Deputy Director of Public Works. He said the first phase of the project began this month.
“What we're doing right now, through the month of May, will be demolishing the structures and preparing those lots for the future work in the fall,” Nelson said.
This means that parking in the existing lots on Monterey, Palm, and Nipomo streets will be closed for nearby residents and businesses until the end of May.
Nelson said the new parking structure is part of the City’s plan to strengthen the downtown area as a vibrant Cultural Arts District.
“The goal and benefit is really to provide that structure, as envisioned by the downtown concept plan, on the west end of downtown, which will support surrounding businesses,” Nelson said.
The new structure will provide parking for cultural arts businesses downtown, including the SLO Repertory Theatre and the SLO Museum of Art.
Nelson said the project also aligns with the City’s goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2035.
“The top deck will be covered in solar panels to offset the building's carbon emissions,” Nelson said. “The structure is obviously designed for parking vehicles, but the city does have multimodal transportation goals.”
“So we do have a designated area within the parking structure for bike parking,” Nelson added.
Nelson said people can park at the existing Palm and Marsh street structures during this month’s demolition phase.
For more information and updates on the project, you can visit slocity.org/cultural.
