At the May 18 City Commission meeting, Bay Park Conservancy CEO A.G. Lafley presented plans for phases 3A and 3B of the Bay Park buildout. One of the newer elements is a concept for an approximately 700-space, five-story parking structure within the park site.

The City Commission voted to accept the Bay Park Conservancy report for phases 3A and 3B. A more specific discussion regarding the parking structure portion of the effort is expected at a meeting slated for later this week.

The proposed structure is intended to replace a comparable number of surface parking spaces now located in the Bay Park/Van Wezel area. Those surface lots would be converted to green space as part of the broader park development. The goal is to preserve overall parking supply, return significant ground-level acreage to park use, and improve the quality of stormwater leaving the site before it enters Sarasota Bay.

The structure could also serve a future performing arts center on the site, should that project move forward. The image below is an early, rough concept subject to significant revisions but does reflect the approximate new location for the structure envisioned.