VALPARAISO | The city took a step toward its transit-oriented development plan -- or what Mayor Jon Costas calls "the next big thing for downtown."
"There are a lot of moving parts to this project but nothing good ever came easy," he said.
The board of works on Friday approved a $153,000 contract with American Structurepoint that will allow for land planning, site design, signage, landscaping and possible street realignments.
The TOD would include a combination train and bus station and townhomes and condominiums. The multimodal transportation hub would be around the area of the railroad tracks on the Von Tobel property on Washington Street, which the city hopes to purchase.
"We're excited to possibly move the ChicaGo Dash parking lot," City Planner Director Tyler Kent said. "We're running out of space."
The current Dash location is on Lincolnway near Campbell Street.
The board also approved a second location for a new downtown valet service.
Prime Parking Solutions was founded by two Valparaiso University students and kicked off service in January with a stand at the Napoleon Center on Lincolnway. With the city's approval, founders Grant Bell and Mark Crook will have a second stand located near Pikk's Tavern.
"You're helping us build a downtown that's fairly rare for a city our size," Costas said.
Bell said the service parked 193 cars its first month and over 250 the second.