Location: St. Armands Key, Sarasota, Florida
Certification Level: Parksmart Silver
Project Owner: City of Sarasota
Project Size: 178,000 square feet and 480 spaces
Parking Operator: City of Sarasota
Property Manager: Broxton Harvey
Project Overview:

Located on the St. Armands Key in Sarasota, Florida, St Armands Garage is the first Parksmart Certified municipal owned and operated garage. Built to address parking demand on this tourist and residential key, the City of Sarasota ensured that community-focused goals were a priority in the planning and structural design. A high level of public engagement drove a design that minimizes light and noise pollution, integrates highly attractive aesthetics and provides community benefits that extend beyond vehicle storage.

Appealing visual elements include extensive placemaking, integrated green spaces, an exterior public plaza for gathering, a pleasing decorative mesh façade and low profile lighting. In an area that straddles commercial and residential zones, the building accommodates the interests of pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and motor vehicle drivers.

St Armands Garage generates its own power through a solar PV array, and incorporates highly efficient lighting and control, passive cooling, mechanical smart vents and efficient HVAC systems to reduce energy consumption. It provides fast DC charging for electric vehicles, extensive secure bicycle storage and tool station, bicycle sharing and a separate covered motorcycle parking area.

Highlights:

  • Solar PV array offsets 42% of the building energy and Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) offset all of the building use
  • Over 99.8% of the construction materials were regionally sourced, 76% of the labor was local and 87.5% of the waste produced was diverted from landfills through recycling or reuse
  • Extensive bicycle parking (10% of the vehicle capacity), half of which are in caged, secure space, with restrooms and a bike repair station
  • Dedicated vehicle tire inflation station
  • High capacity EV charging, including DC fast-charging
  • Innovative stormwater management system, including permeable pavement, a vast detention tub located under the vehicle ramp and an exterior rain garden
  • Extensive placemaking and innovation, including a greenscaped entrance plaza, bright interior courtyard, integrated landscaped vegetation and a decorative and functional wavy mesh facade
  • Optimized building design, including negative spaces to reduce building materials (and their embodied energy) by 6%.

“The goal of obtaining the Parksmart designation was extremely important. The City of Sarasota established a goal to achieve 100% use of renewable energy in city buildings by 2030. This project was a fantastic culmination of community effort and achievement that keeps moving our vision for the community forward.” – Mark Lyons, Parking Division Manager, City of Sarasota