Downtown Parking Garage Project Put on Hold While Martinez Spends the Money on Older Downtown Properties

What an idea!  Let's spend the night in downtown Brownsville.  The Bora Bora Night Club is open, along with that live music venue, the Half Moon.  A dozen or so new clubs dot the south side of Adams Street.  Downtown Brownsville is on the verge of revitalization.  What those venues need to succeed is safe downtown parking, something the city promised would be in place by the fall of 2013.

But, while skilled craftsman, electricians, plumbers and A-C techs have been converting downtown ropa segundas into night clubs, the Tony Martinez-controlled city commission has been dragging its feet.  No ground has yet been broken on the 4-story parking garage, to be located across the street from the new multi-modal bus facility.  While the project is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2013, the project is at least 18 months away without the first shovel even breaking ground.

With the mayoral and city commission lethargy, the original funding of $4,100,000 suffered escalating concrete and steel prices that drove the completion cost to $5,300,000.  While the downtown parking garage project, so crucial to the survival of downtown Brownsville was put on the back burner, Tony Martinez was all giddy, buying up third-tier downtown buildings to placate soulmate Juliet Garcia's vision of a downtown university.  Tony committed Brownsville taxpayers to $3,500,000 in future taxes plus interest via a Certificate of Obligation to consummate his unrequited love affair with UTB.  The University of Texas system is one of the world's richest by any measure despite what their fundraising appeal literature implies. The Permanent University Fund or P.U.F., which includes the oil and mineral rights generated on over 2,000,000 acres of Texas land came in at 8.8 billion in 2008 and is now certainly higher, yet that is only 8% of UT's total funding.  They have no need of, nor would their students be caught dead in Brownsville's old ropa segunda buildings, bars, armory or warehouse.  Tony was offering day old bread to a clientele weaned on gourmet.

Brownsville's Despot

Take the money Tony wasted on speculative real estate, use it on real city priorities and the downtown parking garage gets done.  Adding the concrete and steel surcharges and the new estimate for complete hits $5,300,000.  Contractors went back to the drawing board and removed $200,000 worth of the decorative to bring the cost back down to $5,100,000.  Now if you add $390,000 change order the city says is necessary to bring the sidewalks around the garage into American Disabilities Act compliance, the total comes to $5,500,000.  Taking the city at their word, a New Freedom Act grant covers the $390,000, so we're back at $5,100,000, just a million over the original funding. If Tony wasn't so busy trying to please his cronies and believed in Brownsville, the downtown parking garage would be completed.

Addendum:  Andrew Munoz, Assistant Director of Brownsville Metro called this morning to discuss my concerns about the delay in completing the downtown parking garage.  Mr. Munoz was absent due to illness from last night's meeting of the Transit Advisory Board held at 5:30 PM on the second floor of the multi-modal facility.  On the agenda for last night's meeting, listed as point # 2 was:  "Update on Multimodal Project-Parking Garage(Andrew Munoz).  Due to Mr. Munoz' absence, that item was tabled.

Mr. Munoz mentioned in our phone conversation that the figures in my original story were basically correct, except that the vehicle spaces would actually number 190, according to the architectural plan.  The garage is limited to 3-1/2 stories(actually 4 levels with an the top level being uncovered)by Heritage Foundation requirements that it not overwhelm local architecture.  The height would be approximately level with the multi-modal exclusive of the dome.  Funding also plays a role in the number of levels.  Mr. Munoz estimated another level would add $800,000 to the overall cost.

Munoz explained that the city's purchase of speculative real estate did not affect the garage project's funding as those come through the Brownsville Economic Development Council, which initially approved the original $4,100,000.  Now, Munoz states, the original agreement is in the process of being reworked to reflect the actual current cost to complete the project, $5,100,000.  The paperwork for that adjustment was initiated 45 days ago, a time frame Munoz described as "short" in these situations. 

Another factor in the delay has been the routing of electrical power for the building.  Initial plans, Munoz stated, called for underground electrical cables, but that was found to be cost prohibitive.  Current plans are being considered with P.U.B. for more traditional overhead power service.  

As to the $390,000 needed for American Disabilities Act compliance with respect to the surrounding sidewalks and the garage itself, Munoz confirmed that's will be funded separately under a New Freedom grant.  The parking garage will be linked with the bike trail, with a bike rack out front not taking away from garage space for motor vehicles.