City Council to decide on parking garage
Published 11:57 am Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The Lake Charles City Council will decide if it wants to sell the abandoned parking garage next to nine acres of land on the lakeshore tonight.
City officials have been in negotiations with Mardi Gras Boardwalk to finish a deal to sell the plot of land. Now talks are centering on the parking structure.
City Administrator John Cardone said the company has offered $165,000 for the parking garage, which has not been in use since 2005.
“What we did was put the item on the City Council agenda with the thought of them allowing us to sell the parking garage as surplus property,” he said. “We want to sell it no less than the appraised value.”
An appraiser has been asked to calculate a value for the parking garage.
Mardi Gras Boardwalk is the only company offering money for the parking garage. City Hall wants to sell the land and adjacent parking garage together.
“Mardi Gras Boardwalk made an offer for the land contingent on buying both properties. The city does want to sell at the highest offer,” Cardone said. “We’re not selling the parking garage without the other property being sold. They won’t be sold alone.”
City and company officials have completed the legal details on the land deal. Mardi Gras Boardwalk has offered $4.4 million for the land.
Once the land deals are completed, Mardi Gras Boardwalk intends to build a multimillion-dollar entertainment facility along the lakefront.
Tonight’s City Council meeting is at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall.
The Lake Charles City Council will decide if it wants to sell the abandoned parking garage next to nine acres of land on the lakeshore tonight. (American Press Archives)
