Binghamton's Water Street garage moves forward: When it will open, parking details

The next phase of construction has started for Binghamton's Water Street parking garage.

Made up of 508 precast concrete panels shipped in from Western Massachusetts, the roughly five-story structure will hold over 500 parking spots offering short-term and long-term parking options.

Here's what we know about the timeline, features and plan for the downtown parking garage.

Background: With Water Street apartment complex still on pause, parking garage moves forward

How parking will work at new Water Street garage

Short-term and long-term parking will have separate entrances.

The Water Street entrance will be limited to hourly retail parking. The Henry Street entrance will be available for extended or overnight periods for people who live or work downtown with optional monthly memberships and card access.

In January, the city said the completed garage will include just under 500 spots, with the ground floor offering 60 spots for short-term retail and restaurant parking.

"If someone is coming downtown — they have an appointment, they need to shop at Boscov's — you'll be able to park on the ground floor of this garage," Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham said at a Thursday press conference. "It'll be more like going into a parking deck than a winding parking garage. I think that will make a huge difference."

The current plans for the garage do not include a housing component to be built, but it will be structured for developers to be able to add to in the future.

More: Why Binghamton schools rejected a planned apartment complex at this empty downtown lot

When will Water Street garage be finished

The goal is to have the garage fully operational in time for Christmas, but plan for a partial opening in early winter.

It will take about two months to complete the assembly of the concrete precast structure, then several months of general contracting like plumbing and electricity.

After completion, Kraham said the city plans to evaluate its overall capacity and inventory of parking downtown.

A portion of the funding for the new $25 million garage is sourced from the lost revenue from federal stimulus and bonded funds. In order to keep city taxpayers and future parking lot users from paying high rates, the revenue generated from the garage goes toward paying off the bond.

"We have to make these investments," Kraham said, "to support the Downtown Binghamton economy."

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: What's next with Water Street garage: Binghamton construction timeline