Politics & Government

PARTA Spending More Than Expected on Transit Center Land

Groundbreaking for center set April 4 at 11 a.m.

The cost of land for the $26 million Kent Central Gateway transit center has gone about $600,000 above initial estimates for the project.

The has obligated close to $2 million to pay for the 12 parcels needed to build the center in downtown Kent.

PARTA Planning Director Bryan Smith said the transit agency expects to pay about $2 million total when they reach a sale price agreement for the final two properties still in eminent domain proceedings.

Find out what's happening in Kentwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

TranSystems, the Columbus-based consultant working with PARTA on the project, initially estimated it would cost about $1.4 million to buy all the properties needed for the center, which will be built on Erie Street between South DePeyster Street and Haymaker Parkway.

Smith said TranSystems arrived at the $1.4 million figure by taking the county-appraised values of all 12 parcels and doubling them. The estimate was developed last fall before the property acquisition phase of the project started, Smith said.

Find out what's happening in Kentwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

No additional money is available for the project, and the Federal Highway Administration grant funding the bulk of the project is capped at $20 million.

“We’ll just have to find places to save that money on the building,” Smith said.

He said PARTA is making value-engineering choices on certain elements of the project to save costs and make up for the additional property expenses. One example: the facility will no longer feature a steel roof covering the top level of the parking deck.

“So we’ll change out the steel for something that can just hold solar panels," Smith said. "We don’t need to have a solid steel roof under those solar panels. That’s one of the biggest value engineering things we did.”

Smith said changes made, like the roof, to cut construction costs will not affect the overall mission of the transit center. It will still have 10 bus bays, no parking spaces will be eliminated and all the other transportation features planned — such as bicycle storage — will remain a part of the project.

The two properties still working through the eminent domain process are located at 238 and 244 E. Main St.

PARTA recently finished the eminent domain process for the most expensive property needed for the project — at 115 S. DePeyster St. PARTA originally offered about $450,000 for the property plus moving expenses.

Lawyers for both parties settled on a $775,000 purchase price last month.

The Car Parts Warehouse operation has relocated to the former NAPA store at 108 W. College Ave. Richard Drucker, attorney for the parts store owners, said previously that location may be temporary.

PARTA made an initial offer for another property, owned by Jean and Glen Gavriloff, of $51,200. Both parties settled on a $100,000 purchase price for the 7,500-square-foot parcel of vacant land.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the project is scheduled for April 4 at 11 a.m. at the construction site.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Kent