Parking Garage Capital Improvements
Parking Garage Capital Improvements
This is a phased project that will make important improvements to City-owned parking garages.
Happening Now
This project is currently in the "high priority" phase, making structural repairs to the City's four downtown parking garages. This phase of improvements will be completed in Wall Street and Rankin Avenue garages by the end of 2025. When the weather warms up in 2026, work will begin in Harrah's Cherokee Center Garage and Biltmore Avenue Garage.
Announcement: The elevator in the Wall Street Parking Garage will be out of service for approximately two weeks starting Friday, October 31, 2025. An alternate location for accessible parking in the garage during the closure will be available. The stairwell will remain open.
Background
The City of Asheville operates four parking garages in the Downtown Central Business District: the Harrah’s Cherokee Center, Wall Street, Rankin Avenue, and Biltmore Avenue garages.
The facilities were built in 1976, 1988, 1988 and 2011, respectively. As the facilities age the frequency with which they need to be inspected increases. A comprehensive facility assessment of all four garages was performed in the first half of 2023. The report identified select repairs and wholesale renovations categorized by priority:
- Immediate Repairs – the most urgent repairs (completed in 2024)
- Base Repairs – high priority repairs
- Enhancements – medium priority repairs
Common repairs included in the report are:
- Concrete repairs
- Stair and elevator framing replacement/repair
- Joint sealant replacement
- Guard rail replacements
- Weatherproofing and coatings
- Restriping and improved signage
These repairs are being implemented in phases organized to address the highest priorities first, and with as minimal disruption to parking services as possible. Over the course of the project, parking availability will be limited at times throughout the four garages.
Frequently Asked Questions
In addition to the facility condition assessment, the consultants were also engaged to provide capital planning. This included an analysis comparing the costs of 1) a plan to repair and maintain the garages versus 2) a plan to replace the garages.
The analysis showed that over a 30-year period the cost of replacing the garages is 2 to 2 ½ times the cost of making the recommended repairs and implementing a preventative maintenance program.
A phased program of construction repairs will be ongoing with anticipation of completion in 2027.
Construction will be scheduled with the goal of minimizing impacts to parking availability as much as possible.
Certain parking spaces and sections of garages will be periodically closed to accommodate construction activities. At times a garage might be closed entirely.
The parking garages are safe and will remain open for parking as normal, with the exception of the select scheduled closures.
The estimate for the repairs on all four of the garages is $11.3 million. Once complete, an annual maintenance budget of $1.06 million, escalated annually for inflation, is recommended.
Over a 30-year period the costs average out to less than $2 per day per parking space.
Contact Information
Nicole George, Project Manager
ngeorge@ashevillenc.gov
828-747-1976
Jessica Morriss
Assistant Director of Transportation
jmorriss@ashevillenc.gov