City of Santa Monica Debuts New Eco-Friendly Parking Structure No. 6

Proving that the holidays are truly a time for giving back, the City of Santa Monica opened the new Parking Structure No. 6 on Second Street in Downtown Santa Monica on Thursday.

The project which began construction in March 2012 is now ready for its much-anticipated debut just in time for the upcoming final days of the holiday shopping season. Besides providing much needed additional parking for Downtown Santa Monica and Third Street Promenade, Parking Structure No. 6 has been designed to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED silver standards and is the city’s most eco-friendly structure to date.

In addition to the dramatic red diagonal staircase, the new structure features 744 parking spaces (for a net increase of 400 spaces), 30 electric vehicle charging stations (with room for 130 more in the future), 80 kilowatt of solar panels on the roof and enclosed bike racks on the ground level accommodating 72 bikes in addition to the bike bollards on Second Street sidewalk which hold 40 bikes. 

“Parking is a top concern for our Santa Monica community. The re-opening of Parking Structure 6 complements the 7,412 city-owned spaces already serving downtown Santa Monica,” Santa Monica Mayor Pam O’Connor said. “The additional parking spaces now available will lighten the load for the other structures in the area and therefore lesson traffic congestion from cars circling looking for spaces.”

“We’ve made the most of this valuable Downtown space,” Santa Monica City Manager Rod Gould said. “By almost doubling the number of parking spots, designing to the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED silver standards, and incorporating sustainable elements, such as electric vehicle charging stations and rooftop solar panels, we’ve been able to come up with a structure that will benefit residents, visitors and the environment for years to come.” 

In addition, Parking Structure No. 6 also features:

• 11 general ADA spaces and 15 van ADA spaces
• 7,170 square feet of retail space fronting 2nd Street
• 3,000 square feet for Farmer’s Market storage
• Convenient Automated Pay Machine