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The upper deck of the Town Center Mall's parking garage has officially closed because of the garage's deteriorating condition. Though no decisions have been made yet, the city is looking at options that may potentially result in either closing or demolishing the structure, according to Marvin Rose, the city's director of public works.
But long after the parking structure is demolished, it will leave a longstanding debt with the city—and the downtown property owners will still have to foot the bill.
The city owes a remaining $15.9 million in bond money for the parking garage, according to Mary Bradley, director of finance. If the structure is demolished, the bond still needs to be paid off.
Currently the city pays about $1.2 million a year on the bond service. The city uses property taxes the downtown property owners pay to cover the yearly payment. Any property owner in the immediate downtown area, including Town and Country Village, Murphy Street, the Mozart buildings and the Town Center, contributes to the bond.
But if the garage is demolished, the bond will have to be transferred to the
other parking garage behind the mall. The same downtown property owners will still have to pay the $15.9 million left on the bond.
For now, the lower level of the structure will remain open and available to the public, and Sunnyvale residents don't have to fear parking there, as the structure is not in any immediate danger of collapsing, said John Pilger, communications officer for the city. While the city is losing 1,200 spaces on the upper level, there are still 1,200 parking spaces left on the lower level.
A recent engineering study shows that the parking garage, which was constructed in 1978, needs immediate repairs because of structural deterioration. Without making the improvements, the structure is approaching the time when it can no longer be used, according to Rose.
The city owns two-thirds of the structure and the mall stakeholders own one-third. But because the owners of the mall have filed for bankruptcy, one-third of the parking structure's assets are essentially tied up in court.
The Forum Group, a business based in Atlanta, has signed an agreement to buy the mall and that deal is expected to close by July 31.
According to Robert Paternoster, the city's director of community development, all stakeholders have to agree on the future of the parking garage.
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