What's happening to all that office space by Westgate that EPIC is
vacating as it moves to Verona? That facility would not be near
Meriter's employee amenities, but it's in the city, and it's two
blocks from the West Transfer Point.
On Feb 17, 2008, at 5:08 PM, George J. Perkins wrote:
[...]
So it appears my job and 249 others are headed far-west by July
1st. The search
for office space to lease or buy has been on-going for a while. I
don't know if
City of Madison is involved. I would think this would be a high
priority for
the City to keep business within the city limits. Does anyone know
if there is
a city office responsible for this kind of thing and whether they
are engaged?
I don't know what Madison's vacancy rate is for office space, but
judging by
the number of sterile office buildings in the Middleton sprawl
periphery, it
must be a very low rate. The state and UW certainly have locked up
much of the
downtown real estate. But I'd be happy with some place at least
that gets
decent bus service.
I know that some more could be done to manage the demand-side of
Meriter's
parking problems. I don't think Meriter management has any faith that
demand-management will magically find 200 parking spaces. But
Meriter could do
more. For instance, UW Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital gives
employees free
unlimited bus passes. Meriter does not (it does subsidize four 10-
ride passes
per month at half-price, but if you want five at that price, you
can't get
them). I don't know how other parking fees compare. Meriter
employees pay a
small (like 50ยข a day) fee via payroll deduction if they opt-in to
an assigned
parking stall. Doctors do not have to pay. Patients (one vehicle)
do not have
to pay. If you exit the ramp at night you can park and risk the
daily parking
fee but not pay since the parking attendant booth is nearly always
unoccupied
after 6:00pm. There are bike racks located within the car parking
structure, so
these are somewhat safe and out of the elements, which is nice.
There are
showers available. There is a free-ride home option if you commit
to not
driving a car. So they are definitely doing some things right. But
looking at
reducing employee demand has been half-hearted at best.
It may be too late at this stage to keep the 250 staff at the Park
campus.
Personally I am hoping the far-west real estate they're eyeing
falls through
and something more transit- and bicycle-friendly comes available.
Society is
subsidizing the cost of automobile-friendly, human-scale unfriendly
sprawl,
making this very complex logistical move by Meriter possible
financially.
If anyone on this list has any ideas or knows if the city is
engaged (and if
not, who I contact) please pass that information along.
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