Astrodome plan

Skepticism

Regarding “Latest Dome plan raises floor — not the roof ” (Page A1, June 25), the Astrodome is a nine-acre deserted island in a sea of more than 26,000 county-owned parking spaces. Since a luxury hotel is not going to be built on this island, why build luxury parking spaces in the basement?

The Urban Land Institute’s December 2014 Astrodome report states that basement parking spaces will raise the floor to street level and generate revenue for whatever goes in above them. How?

Currently, surface parking fees at NRG Park tend to be what the market will bear — sky high for NFL games, $15 and $20 for the Rodeo, and $10 for Disney on Ice.

The most expensive downtown garage parking is $40 a day — most are much less. Using $20 a day to park under the dome, the $105 million would not be paid off for 10 years, even if the lot was full every day.

Just raise the floor with dirt, pour a concrete floor, and scrap the sump pumps.

Next, why does the proposed Astrodome parking garage cost so much?

Using survey data of actual costs from the Quarterly Construction Cost Report, Third Quarter (2012), the proposed dome garage can be estimated to cost $60 million.

Using a construction cost estimator website (rsmeans.com), the Dome would cost $54 million. This estimate is likely more accurate since it does not include digging a basement. Nevertheless, both means of estimating are far less than the proposed $105 million. That pricetag is twice as much as reasonable estimates. Why? Someone needs to follow the money on this one. Craig Shumaker, Houston