By: Anna Ballweber
FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – The NP Avenue parking garage opened to the public Friday, November 14, marking a milestone for downtown Fargo’s largest parking facility.
The garage at 602 NP Ave. has been under construction since May 2024. It sits on a site that served as a surface parking lot for more than 50 years.
The facility is part of a larger multi-use development project that includes new apartments and a new home for the Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre.
“It didn’t require us expanding the city at all or adding infrastructure,” said Rocky Schneider, Executive Director of the Downtown Community Partnership (DCP). “What it did is it allowed us to take a blank space that’s paying very little, and now it’s paying a lot of property tax that would benefit the entire city, not just downtown, not just the neighborhood, but the entire city of Fargo.”
The construction process affected several of businesses in the area. Local store owners said blocked roads and closed sidewalks significantly reduced foot traffic.
“I mean the road was pretty blocked off and the sidewalk was shut down for a while,” said Brylie Guida, of Fresh. “When the sidewalk was closed, it slowed down business a lot.”
The local juice business was forced to operate entirely online during construction because customers could barely access the storefront on foot.
“People could barely walk down the sidewalk to get here so I believe she just did online orders,” Guida added.
With the garage now open, businesses like Fresh are already seeing renewed foot traffic.
“With it open and with people driving by, you’re now able to see it. We finally have our blinking sign open, so people are able to see it and know we’re open… come on in!” said Guida.
City officials said the new facility addresses long-standing parking concerns in downtown Fargo.
The facility offers 480 new parking spaces with free parking after 5 p.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends. The garage has hourly rates during business hours, and reserved parking available for $115 a month.
“The perception of downtown not having places to park is something we hear about,” Schneider added. “We know now with a parking study coming out from the city of Fargo, with this ramp, we actually have an abundance of parking.”
The complete multi-use project, including the apartments and community theatre space, is expected to be finished sometime next year.
