MINNEAPOLIS - Crews have started tearing down a city-owned, 1,000-stall parking ramp, right across the street from City Hall in downtown Minneapolis.
Demolition started Monday and will last about three months, and then the city will start construction on an 11-story, 382,000-square-foot building for its new Public Service Building.
"You come to one stop, one area to take care of all of your business needs," said Gary Goeke, the Director of Major Real Estate Projects with the city of Minneapolis.
That's the idea, consolidating services to one area for convenience.
The city of Minneapolis says the new building will combine eight different departments. But where's everybody going to park?
"There is capacity for people to move to other locations. They may not be as convenient or the same price as the facility we're taking down," said Goeke.
And fewer spots could mean higher pricing, which is already a problem.
Parkopedia is a parking service that analyzes data across 8,000 cities. It ranks Minneapolis in the top 10 most expensive U.S. cities in hourly, daily, and monthly parking.
Still, the city says it studied foot traffic in and around the area, and this building just made sense.
"It was a strategic decision the city had to make, and proximity to City Hall was so important. And if you look around, there's nothing left, something had to come down to make this project happen," said Goeke.
The Public Service Building is expected to be done in 2020.