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Orange City Council seeks developer to build CBD car park for 430 vehicles
20 December 2022
By Peter Holmes
The first steps are being taken to expand the Ophir Car Park on the corner of Lords Place and Kite Street into a multi-storey facility.
Orange City Council has released an Expression of Interest to double the amount of parking.
The development could also include commercial and/or residential sites.
Orange deputy mayor Gerald Power said in a statement that increasing parking next to the CBD was a key element in Orange's FutureCity upgrade plans.
“FutureCity is all about making the heart of our city more pedestrian-friendly and to facilitate this we need to find more parking within a short walking distance to town," he said.
“The Ophir Car Park is virtually a clean slate for a developer and has the zoning and height limits to make it an attractive proposition."
Council has engaged a specialist commercial property consultant to manage the process.
Possible developments for the site that would need council planning approval, "could include commercial premises, retail or office space, a mixed-use centre with entertainment facility, or serviced apartment accommodation", council said.
There are currently there are 215 parking spaces on the Ophir site.
Proposals from developers should "provide enough parking to cater for the new commercial or residential developments, as well as doubling the amount of existing parking available to the public (from 215 to 430)".
The EOI also asks developers to outline how they would manage the loss of parking during the construction period.
The formal EOI process will begin early in February 2023.
Councillor Kevin Duffy was among those who said the Ophir Car Park redevelopment should have occurred before the loss of about a third of parking spots on Lords Place as part of a makeover.
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