Consulting group brought in ahead of downtown Albany developments

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Where will all the customers park in downtown Albany? That’s a big question ahead of all the planned developments.

It’s also why a consulting group was brought in to help.

The group conducted a study of both on and off street parking back in 2016.

Some of the concerns business owners brought to their attention were getting ahead of the parking demand coming to the area, making sure visitors and customers have parking for their needs as well as controlling employee parking.

Other concerns included relying on the Albany Civic Center for parking as well.

“It does still look like a big red flag to meeting planners, so while all that parking’s there, it’s still a very good distance away from where people want to be,” said Rachelle Beasley, the director of the Albany Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The group said it plans to study peak hours for parking and strongly consider the new developments of hotels and businesses coming to the area.

“We’re going to look at the new developments that are happening to make sure we understand what’s coming in," said Mike Martindill, the principal of TimHaahs and Associates. "It’ll take a while for some of those to develop but they’re going to generate more parking demand. So we’re going to take all of this information back to the city.”

The study will take five to six weeks to complete.

After that, the Downtown Development Authority will decide on its next steps.

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