By Coral Gables Gazette staff

With the prospect of parking in the Coral Gables Central Business District expected to get worse before it gets better, the city is considering shoring up existing parking supply by leasing its surface parking lots in the 300 block of Aragon Avenue to increase supply in the short term.

Director of Parking and Mobility Services Monica Beltran informed board members that the City Commission will vote on the proposed lease at an upcoming meeting December 9. Currently, the city has 10 spots in one city-owned lot and 14 in another, but when the middle lot -privately owned – is incorporated into parking operations, the number of spaces will jump to close to 80.

“Instead of 24 spots, there would be 80,” Beltran told board members at their November 19 meeting.

Although the city-owned lots would not be operated as city parking, the city would receive a payment of $25,000 a month ($300,000 a year) for the right to use them as parking, with that payment scheduled to rise to $30,000 when another adjacent lot is incorporated into the operation.

Different parking operator, ‘same’ parking options

The agreement represents a reversal of a previous arrangement: the city once leased the middle Aragon Avenue parcel from a private owner and operated all three properties as a single, unified lot. But when a new owner declined to renew those terms, the city was forced to split its two remaining lots into separate, inefficient operations, dropping the total number of usable spaces.

A city email provided further context: “The city previously leased the middle Aragon Avenue lot, which allowed all three parcels to operate as one unified parking area. After we were unable to reach a new agreement with that property owner, the city’s two lots became operationally split, requiring separate entrances and exits and reducing overall capacity and efficiency.”

The proposed Dec. 9 lease would allow ASTA Parking to operate the city lots as part of a single consolidated system, restoring approximately 80 spaces and improving circulation. In exchange, the city would collect steady monthly revenue comparable to what it earned previously – except this time, without having to pay for lighting, maintenance, enforcement, or staffing.

Board has questions about future and rates

Protective of the parking supply and wary of past attempts to develop the land, board members pressed Beltran on the long-term strategy, the financial logic, and the possibility that the arrangement could pave the way for future sale of city-owned property and parking spots.

Beltran acknowledged she had initially been uneasy about the rates the private operator might charge, saying, “I was concerned about the rates, but then… if they overcharge, they’ll undersell. That’s really true.” She noted that a facility across the street – the Grand Garage – has the equivalent to city parking rates. With that built-in competition, she said, there would be little incentive to overcharge.

Board Member Blanca Famadas honed in on the city’s financial benefit. “How are we gonna benefit? she asked. Beltran responded plainly reiterating the payments to the city and increased parking spots. When Famadas asked how that compared to revenue the city generated on its own, Beltran said that although the city previously earned about $330,000, “(but) we now have no expense,” making the lease financially comparable without the operational burden.

Board Member Lisa de Tournay raised a broader concern about losing direct municipal control. “You’re taking away from the residents a municipal parking,” she said, questioning whether the structure might be an early step toward selling the land. “Is this going to be a precursor to selling those properties?” she asked, while she and other board members questioned why a developer would voluntarily lease land to operate as parking if they weren’t going to make much profit, if any.

Beltran insisted no such plan was in front of her. But she emphasized the pressing need for parking as the city prepares for the demolition of Garage 1, ahead of the construction of the Mobility Hub, a project that will take years to complete. “During that time, we need to create as much parking as possible to carry the businesses through this,” she said, noting that the 300 block of Miracle Mile is already suffering from reduced parking availability.

A property with a development-heavy past

The discussion carried echoes of earlier tensions when the board strongly opposed including the same city-owned Aragon Avenue parcels in a mixed-use project proposed by developers who own the middle lot and another parcel to the west. Famadas led that charge, urging the city not to “cave” to development pressure.

At the time, the proposal would have authorized the city manager to evaluate development options for the two city-owned lots in partnership private developer. Board members objected, citing residents’ preference for surface parking and their desire to preserve rare city-owned land in the downtown core.

Those debates underscored a longstanding tension: whether the Aragon parcels should remain surface parking, be redeveloped, or serve as a hybrid public-private project. The new lease proposal appears to shift the city’s posture back toward preserving the surface lots, at least for now, by restoring short-term capacity without the risk or controversy of redevelopment.