DIF Goals

The DIF Committee has proposed replacing the Middlesex Avenue Parking Garage for a number of reasons. The current garage is in extremely poor physical condition and must be replaced in the near future. The DIF would permit the Town to make a capital investment it must make one way or another.

The DIF would also allow the Town to continue its downtown renaissance by removing the primary limiting factor on its continued redevelopment – a lack of parking. Redevelopment of downtown Natick began in the mid-1990’s with the investment of more than $30,000,000 in taxpayer money downtown. Development of parking will lead to additional private investment in commercial, retail and residential properties in downtown Natick, and will permit new and improved amenities to be offered to the people of Natick. This is expected to include new restaurants, cultural activities and improved access to existing modes of mass transportation.

It is the intent of this project to eliminate our current parking shortage while also addressing the parking needs of currently under-occupied buildings. The Town believes that additional parking will spur additional investment in downtown Natick, a conclusion that is based on multiple prior studies and significant anecdotal evidence (please refer to Appendices M, N, O and P in the applications on file in the Morse Institute Library, Office of the Town Clerk and Office of the Board of Selectmen).

The Committee’s financial analysis indicates that the proposed DIF will fully finance the construction of the proposed garage on Middlesex Avenue. The construction of an approximately 360-car parking garage at this location will add 186 new parking spaces to downtown, eliminating our current parking shortage. Based on a study conducted in 2002, the Town believes this investment will also help drive the redevelopment of more than 40,000 square feet of commercial office space in downtown Natick. This project will not eliminate the Town’s projected 325 to 400 car parking shortage, which is based on a built-out analysis of downtown. It will, however, address our current parking deficit while also permitting the redevelopment of commercial space. This additional commercial space can be built by renovating and occupying currently vacant space, without the addition of new infrastructure and at little service cost to our taxpayers.

Construction of the proposed garage is also intended to serve as protection against market downturns. The Committee believes that providing additional commercial, retail and housing opportunities in downtown Natick will increase the critical mass of each market segment in our community’s core. This will make each segment less vulnerable in the event of an economic downturn. Ensuring a mix of uses will provide the diversity necessary for our downtown to weather economic fluctuations, and increasing the presence of each will provide greater breadth and depth in the market, increasing the likelihood that downtown Natick will remain a destination location even during a poor economy.