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The Altoona Parking Authority on Tuesday approved a parking facilities swap with Curry Supply Co.
Curry is conveying its parking lot at the corner of 15th Street and 12th Avenue to the city in exchange for a lump sum of money and the extended use of 27 parking spaces in the authority lot behind Curry headquarters at 11th Avenue near 15th Street.
The swap will benefit the city Police Department, because employees who now need to park behind the Curry building and on the street can use the newly acquired Curry lot, which is next to the police station; and it will also benefit Curry, whose employees will be able to park closer to their building.
The city is paying $350,000 for the Curry lot -- $150,000 in cash, plus $200,000 that Curry will receive in the form of credit for the 27 spots over 148 months, which works out to $50 per month per spot, according to Interim City Manager Nate Kissell.
The swap is a good deal for both parties, said authority member Ted Beam.
The arrangement will also benefit downtown businesses and customers, because police employees will occupy fewer street spaces, said authority Chairwoman Sherri McGregor.
Freeing up street space is especially important given the expected opening before long of the McCrory and Kress development projects, along with a prospective new tenant in the former Kerr Kreations flower shop space, McGregor said.
Curry already leases 18 spaces in the lot behind its building, and that lease arrangement will continue.
The 27 additional spaces that Curry will lease in the lot behind its building will come out of a total of 50 unleased spaces in that lot, which runs between 10th Avenue and the backs of buildings on 11th Avenue, and from 13th to 15th streets, according to Mayor Matt Pacifico.
There are 23 spaces in the Curry lot that will become the property of the city.