Thank you for an informative study session this evening. I agree with what
I understood to be a general concensus to move forward with affordable
housing on the downtown parking lot while we address the identified funding
gaps.
Regarding Laura Melahns proposal (https://www.lauramelahn.com/housing),
her core thesis seems to be that we can convince USGS and SRI developers to
shift their housing mix to more affordable units for $90K/unit and that the
cost to the city for downtown parking is $100K to $250K/parking space. Has
anyone talked to the developers for either of these projects to confirm
what wed have to pay them to shift the mix to more low-income units? Have
we asked the 3 downtown developers what their cost per spot is, and if its
higher than the market research below, why its more expensive for our
project relative to San Mateo average costs?
I dont know if these costs are accurate, but Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT
provide these prices for parking garage spots that are all lower than the
$100,000/space Laura references.
*Gemini reports*: Building a parking garage in San Mateo County typically
costs $35,000 to $85,000+ per space for above-ground structures, and
$80,000 to $120,000+ per space for subterranean or underground levels,
reflecting high regional labor rates and coastal California construction
premiums.
*Claude reports*:
- A rough current range for San Mateo County is $50,000-$60,000 or more
per space for an above-ground structure, and $80,000-$150,000 for
underground. Those figures exclude land costs.
- Local benchmark. The San Mateo County government garage in Redwood
City (1,022 spaces) had an estimated cost of $47 million in 2018.
Supervisors later approved a final budget that was $11.2 million higher,
about $58 million. That works out to roughly $57,000 per space, in 2020
dollars, for a standalone above-ground garage. Construction costs have
risen since then, so a comparable project today would likely come in
higher. That escalation is my inference, not a sourced figure.
- Broader estimates: A 2026 UCLA report puts average costs at $52,000
per space for aboveground and $73,000 for underground, with the lowest
around $40,000.
*ChatGPT Reports*:
If you’re budgeting a new structured parking garage in San Mateo County, a
reasonable 2026 planning range is roughly:
Garage type Planning cost / space 500 spaces 1,000 spaces
Above-grade, basic precast $40k–$55k $20M–$27.5M $40M–$55M
Above-grade, higher-end Bay Area $50k–$70k $25M–$35M $50M–$70M
Underground $70k–$110k+ $35M–$55M+ $70M–$110M+
Cheers, Brian
Book a meeting: https://calendar.app.google/iTfeaQQ8UixGPqhz5
=========
Brian Kissel
brian.kissel@gmail.com
Mobile: 650.397.1414
*3 things* you can do to help fight climate change: Change, Vote, & Advocate
