On Tuesday, city officials will vote on a contract to construct the second parking garage in downtown Ocala, which is estimated to cost $18.5 million and is projected to add 800 parking spaces to the area.
The agreement with SSC Construction Management, LLC, for design-build services of Downtown Parking Garage No. 2 will come before the Ocala City Council for a final vote during its regular meeting on Tuesday, December 3, at City Hall (110 SE Watula Avenue).
According to city records, the cost of the project is estimated at $17,481,485.70, with an additional $974,497.30 in contingencies for a grand total of $18,455,983. A pricing sheet included in the proposed contract shows that approximately $7.81 million of the cost is associated with concrete alone.
The city’s second parking garage will be located along between SW 3rd Avenue and SW 2nd Avenue, along SW Broadway Street.
SSC Construction Management, LLC, is based in Ocala and has been behind several local commercial construction projects, including the District Bar and Kitchen. That restaurant, which opened in the Summer of 2023, is situated close to the site of the new parking garage.
The company was also responsible for building the TownePlace Suites hotel in 2021 and is currently building the new Staybridge Suites in northwest Ocala.
According to the city, all of the associated roadway and parking improvements in downtown Ocala will be completed in five phases through 2027. The proposed contract shows that construction of the parking garage should be completed by the summer of 2026.
In October, the city began Phase 1 of construction on the new parking garage, closing roadways and preparing the area. That kicked off a series of major detours in downtown Ocala associated with the project.
As a result, SW 3rd Avenue has been closed between E Silver Springs Boulevard and SW Broadway Street, along the eastern side of the RaceTrac gas station.
The detour has impacted several local businesses in the area, with many of those businesses forced to remind patrons that they are still open despite the inaccessibility due to roadwork.
“We know that access to The Gathering might be a little more challenging, but we are committed to providing you with the best service possible during this construction season,” reads a statement from The Gathering Cafe, which is located across SW Broadway Street from RaceTrac.
Construction of the second parking garage comes amidst continual efforts from the city to expand the parking offering in downtown Ocala.
Earlier this year, the city opened Parking Lot 5 and Parking Lot 9 for public use, adding more than 100 parking spaces to the city’s inventory in the process.
Both of those parking lots were free to the public throughout October, with the latter having transitioned to a metered rate of $0.75 per hour on November 1.
In addition to Parking Lot 5 and Parking Lot 9, in June, the city agreed to open Parking Lot 7 to the public.
That lot officially opened to the public for free use in July and remained free throughout the Summer. It is still open to the public and will have a meter installed.
In addition to all of the lots and metered spaces, the city also offers hundreds of free parking spaces at Parking Garage One, which got its own facelift earlier this year.
UPDATE: This story originally reported the demolition of a separate building associated with the parking garage. The parking garage will replace the former site of Mount Moriah Baptist Church.
