FALL RIVER ─ Some members of the City Council indicated on Tuesday that when it comes to the Pearl Street parking garage in the heart of downtown, they are looking long-term rather than at the administration’s short-term solution: selling the facility for a little over $1 million, well below its $2.6 million “as is” appraisal.
Mayor Paul Coogan and his administration say they are hamstrung on the Pearl Street garage by a locked-in lease with developer James Karam that gives him the right to all of the garage’s spaces at a discounted rate until 2043. Karam was also the sole bidder for the garage, offering $1.05 million, $350,000 below the city’s suggested $1.4 million minimum.
The garage needs more than $5 million in repairs after years of deferred maintenance by its two owners: the city and the Fall River Redevelopment Authority, which ran it from 2008 until the city took it back in 2019. The building has 374 spaces, but only 219 are usable because of the structure’s decay, down from 261 earlier this month as more spaces have been taken offline.
Not all councilors were convinced by the administration’s argument.
“This city has been incorporated 170 years. We have to make decisions based on 25 years out, 50 years out, we have to think long-term,” said Councilor Michael Canuel.
The city’s real estate attorney, Matthew Thomas, who led the presentation to the Committee on Finance in favor of the sale, cautioned what the garage would cost the city during the 17 years left on the Karam lease.
“It will cost us to maintain that property, it will cost us to invest into that property, the city. We will not be getting that benefit, we’ll be doing it for a private party,” said Thomas.
The lease was signed in 2013 by the Fall River Redevelopment Authority, which was then managed by Bristol County Economic Development Consultants (formerly FROED), where Ken Fiola is executive vice president. Will Flanagan was mayor at the time. Coogan has said the lease leaves the city in a bind over what to do with the garage.
Council presented with options
Thomas said he saw three options for the Pearl Street garage.
The first is to do nothing and not sell, which he said “made no sense” because the garage would likely be completely shut down within five years.
The second is to invest more than $5 million in repairs. Thomas said that would cost nearly $400,000 a year and raise the garage’s value by only $633,000.
“But which a private party will control until 2043,” said Thomas.
The third is to sell the garage to Karam for $1.05 million and use the proceeds toward a new facility next to the Third Street garage.
City Councilor Shawn Cadime questioned Thomas about the city’s 2024 downtown parking study and asked that it be updated. Since 2024, new housing units have opened downtown, with more in the pipeline.
The City Council will have the final say on whether the garage is sold. The council voted to send the matter to the Committee on Real Estate, which will continue the discussion and make a recommendation to the full council.
