There’s a two-story lot at First Street and Brown Avenue in Old Town. Folks call it “The Parking Corral.”
It’s been there a while – going on 23 years.
City Hall is just a quarter mile away, so Scottsdale residents aiming to drop off their ballots might park here.
Then again, maybe not: as the signs say, “closed for construction.”
That – even more than the punishing sun that shrinks business – has a few nearby restaurants steaming mad.
“We all hate it,” grimaced Bailey Kurth, a Karsen’s waitress, as sets a couple outdoor tables across First Street from the closed lot.
Like others, she just doesn’t get it.
“I’ve lived in the area for 20 years and never not been able to find parking,” she said.
Her boss, Karsen’s owner Jacob Finley, says the Parking Corral closure is crushing business at Karsen’s and its neighboring restaurants.
“Rehab (Burger Therapy) has been killed, we’ve been killed, the Mission’s been killed,” Finley said.
He said Karsen’s sales have been up every year for the last five – until June 29, when the lot closed for construction.
His sales plunged 22% the first two weeks of July compared to last year, Finley said.
Exact same story a block away at Rehab Burger Therapy, co-owner Denise Nelson confirms.
Sales are down so much since June 29, “There’s a good chance we’re going to fail,” a morose Nelson said.
“It if continues this way, we will not be here next year.”
Does she see any long-term benefit of having a big new garage next door?
“If we make it that long,” she grimly answered.
Brian Raab, owner of the nearby – and historic – Mission restaurant, was a vocal opponent of the garage.
Ironically enough, he said at a meeting last fall he took over the then-failing Mission because construction of the Corral lot “took two-and-a-half years – and that put the original owner out of business.”
At the Sept. 18, 2025, meeting, Raab gave the thumbs down to two design options as “ugly and uglier.”
Post-‘Parkingate’
After a year-and-a-half of debate highlighted by “Parkingate,” construction on the bland-sounding “Brown Avenue Parking Expansion” project started at the end of June.
With the July 21 primary ticking down, some are getting their last kicks in on this political football.
A pro-parking Councilman Barry Graham says putting up the garage satisfies “the will of the people” – the majority who voted for more Old Town parking in 2019.
Hogwash, shoots back Borowsky.
After taking office in January of 2025, she repeatedly fought against the garage. Her request for a delay and presentation of an alternate design by one of her campaign donors led to the “Parkingate” saga: Graham and “bloc” council members Jan Dubauskas and Adam Kwasman told county detectives Borowsky may have violated campaign and procurement laws.
Though the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office declined to pursue an investigation, ill feelings have been simmering since.
Seventeen months ago, Borowsky was the lone vote against the $12.4 million parking garage contract with Chasse Building Team.
Now, suggesting costs have been skyrocketing, she scoffs at the Old Town garage as a “waste of $30 million in taxpayer dollars.” The mayor says Graham and a City Council majority made a “nonsensical decision … expected to create the next big economic setback for Historic Old Town businesses.
“We’ve already heard from one notable business owner who is losing $1,000 per day since construction started, with another iconic restaurateur who may close their doors for good.”
The horsewoman Borowsky took a final boot to Graham, calling the garage “a handsome repayment for Mr. Graham’s few backers from his 2022 campaign.”
Graham did not respond to the insinuation.
Bob Pejman, an Old Town gallery owner who has been a garage booster for years, wildly disagrees with the mayor.
“The claim that the Old Town parking garage will harm local businesses is contrary to both the facts and common sense,” Pejman said.
“Every council vote approving the project passed by at least a 5-2 margin, with the final July 1 vote passing 6-1, the mayor casting the lone dissenting vote.”
Pejman argues the Civic Center expansion and new restaurants in the area demand more parking.
“We also lost the use of the 100 spot HonorHealth parking lot,” Pejman added.
“Cars aren’t disappearing anytime soon, and providing more parking makes it easier for residents and visitors to shop, dine, and support Old Town businesses.
Garage opinions, indeed, are flying around Old Town like bullets in a Wild West shootout.
A brief history
With 67% in favor, voters approved a $319 million 2019 bond package for dozens of projects.
The 2019 bond package earmarked roughly $20 million for “Old Town parking.”
After a very-different City Council in 2024 battled over locations, a consensus was reached for two garages: at the Parking Corral and 1 mile north in the Entertainment District.
After a February 2025 vote, a design contract was awarded to Chasse Construction.
The total budget, according to the city’s website for the garage; $20.9 million.
Two additional levels of parking will be added with 185 parking stalls.
Community outreach meetings and other feedback resulted in the top level being set back from Brown Avenue, with shaded sidewalks.
Public art currently on-site will be preserved, and a new installation will face Second Street.
New parking stalls will be available in the spring of 2027. Work will continue to finish elements of the garage though the summer of 2027.
The farmer’s market that set up shop on Saturdays at the Parking Corral is closed for the summer. When it comes back in the fall, it will have a new location adjacent to City Hall.
During construction, streets are open to traffic, but there will be “sidewalk surfing.”
The Brown Avenue and First and Second street sidewalks adjacent to the garage are closed during construction.
Completion date?
Summer of 2027, according to the city.
“I was expecting two years,” Karsen’s owner Finley said.
If the usual construction delays happen and it takes that long, “I’ll be surprised if I’m still open,” he said.
Looking in the direction of City Hall, he sneered.
“This city council didn’t give two (expletives) about us,” he said.
Pointing to the updated price tag in a city circular, Finley insisted, “For $21 million, they could have bought land and built a new garage.”
But, he added, he doesn’t blame Borowsky: “I think she fought hard and understood what businesses would be going through.”
Shaking his head as his gaze falls on the closed-off Parking Corral across the street, Finley said the multi-story garage will wreck the views.
“I’ll miss the sunsets,” he said.
The restaurant owner hopes he can weather the construction storm without the sun setting on Karsen’s.
About that other one …
On July 2, by a unanimous “consent agenda” vote, City Council awarded Willmeng Construction a $12.9 million “design build manager” contract for the Northeast Quadrant Parking Structure.
According to the project website, “total project cost is estimated at $15.2 million.”
This garage replaces an existing city lot at 7375 E. Stetson Drive, north of Sixth Avenue, east of Wells Fargo Avenue and west of Civic Center Plaza.
The four-story garage will have 218 spaces.
On its construction schedule, Willmeng lists “substantial completion” as June 25, 2027.