Rochester City Council Approves New Downtown Parking Project

Rochester,MN (KROC AM News) - Work could begin soon on a new downtown Rochester parking ramp.

It will be built on the east side of the Hilton Hotel that is being constructed at the corner of Broadway and Center St.

The Rochester City Council approved a series of bids for the project at its Monday meeting. The council also approved the hiring of Kraus-Anderson as project manager. The Public Works Dept. recommended the hiring of Kraus-Anderson in part because the company is the general contractor of the Hilton project. This will help coordinate the progress of both projects and assure they are finished at about the same time.

The total cost of the project is more than $26-million ($24 million for the ramp, nearly $2.3 million for the Kraus-Anderson contract).

Included in the bids is extra work to reinforce the ramp footings to accommodate a possible future housing project that would be built on top of the structure.

The project will be paid for through the city’s Parking Utility reserves, tax increment financing from the Hilton project and DMC funds.

The council was told this is the first time the city has proceeded with a project without using a general contractor that would assemble the various bids and oversee the construction work.