COEUR d'ALENE — The purchase of a piece of downtown property by Coeur d'Alene's urban renewal agency will pave the way for a new parking structure.  

Ignite cda's board approved the $750,000 purchase of property at 214 N. Third St. in Coeur d'Alene during its December meeting, a move that marks the final piece of a property puzzle encompassing all of the property north of the alley on the block bordered by Fourth Street, Third Street and Coeur d'Alene Avenue. A four-level, 364-space public parking facility has been planned for the property, which according to Mayor Steve Widmyer will fill a shortage of parking spaces in downtown that’s projected to grow to well over 300 spaces in the next decade.

"We have a few properties that remained vacant for years due to lack of adequate parking," said Widmyer, who also serves as an ignite commissioner. "The proposed parking structure will revitalize downtown by encouraging the restoration of old buildings and the creation of new developments."

Estimated cost of the parking structure project is $5 million, funded by ignite cda.

Tony Berns, executive director of ignite cda, told The Press plans for the public parking structure began more than a decade ago, when the urban renewal agency purchased property at 311 Lakeside Ave. in 2002. The block was chosen, according to Berns, because of a city-owned surface parking lot on site and its overall central location.

"The board and city council understood then, and understand now, the value of well-placed structured parking for the long-term viability of downtown," Berns added.

With the property purchase approved, Berns said ignite cda and city officials can now work on design before setting a construction timeline. Both entities, Berns added, understand the immediate need for parking in downtown Coeur d'Alene and, as such, the executive director said the best-case timeline for construction would be to begin work in mid-to-late 2017.

Miller-Stauffer Architects will create a preliminary design proposal for the parking structure, a $15,000 project that was approved by ignite's board during its December meeting. The design proposal will provide ignite and city officials with high-quality renderings of the proposed design, including square foot cost estimates and costs associated with potentially including stronger foundation footings that would allow expansion of the structure in the future.

According to Dick Stauffer, of Miller-Stauffer Architects, the firm began creating conceptual plans for the parking structure in 2010. There have been, Stauffer said, many iterations of the structure but officials recently decided to keep the design simple rather than pursue a plan that would create a mixed-use structure.

"The facility concept design shared today will be an open-air facility that will be very functional by design," Stauffer told the ignite board during the December meeting.

When asked by The Press if the parking structure fit within the mission of his agency, Berns said providing long-term public infrastructure is a "key tenet" of urban renewal. Berns cited downtown Boise as an example of how an urban renewal agency working on planned structured public parking can lead to a vibrant downtown and benefit the community as a whole.

"Well-placed downtown public parking facilities are key economic catalysts for the urban cores of cities across the state, and across the country," Berns said.