New Parking Garage Opens in SLO, Hoping to Drive More People Into Downtown
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (KEYT) - The City of San Luis Obispo opened its newest parking garage Tuesday morning with the hope of helping drive more people into the downtown area.
The $43 million structure is located at 609 Palm Street, on the corner of Nipomo and Palm Streets, and adds nearly 400 parking spaces, 41 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, 14 bike lockers and 16 bike parking spaces.
"This is the largest downtown infrastructure investment the City has ever made, and we invite the community to take advantage of this opportunity to park at no cost in the new garage and familiarize themselves with this new gateway to the downtown," said San Luis Obispo City Manager Whitney McDonald.
"This investment will set the stage for a vibrant Cultural Arts District downtown, will support a variety of transportation options for downtown visitors and employees, and will provide safe overnight parking options for downtown residents."
Officially known as the "Cultural Arts District Parking Garage," the building also includes rooftop solar panels to offset energy use and underground utilities to improve reliability, safety, and the surrounding streetscape.
There will also be a rooftop event space that is not yet open to the public.
This marks the City's fourth downtown parking structure, to go along with two located on Palm Street and the other on Broad Street.
Construction began on this garage more than two years ago in Nov. 2023, coming after the City said was more than 20 years of public engagement, planning and design.
According to a release, the purpose of the project is to increase transportation options for downtown and support a vibrant Cultural Arts District, including the Children’s Museum, History Center, the future SLO Rep Theatre and the expanding SLO Museum of Art.
To help celebrate the opening of the garage, San Luis Obispo is offering free parking for the first 28 days from March 17 to April 13, 2026.
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