Free Downtown Parking Incentive Draws Firms To San Jose
SAN JOSE (KCBS) - The lure of free parking in downtown San Jose has proved to be an irresistible prospect. Dozens of companies made the move as a result of the city's lucrative incentive.
San Jose offered companies free parking for two years if they moved downtown or renewed their lease.
KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:
"One of the assets we have is parking spaces available," reasoned Mayor Chuck Reed. "It's a slow economy so we've got spaces that are going unused, we're trying to put those into use. And use that as an enticement to locate a business downtown to help with the parking needs."
"33 companies have taken advantage of this parking incentive program," added councilman Sam Liccardo, whose district encompassed the downtown area. "Bringing with them over 300 employees and filling almost 150,000 square feet of retail and office space."
The incentive program was rolled out in Spring 2010 as a way of overcoming the impediment companies claimed that pricey parking had become.
"The parking incentive program is to encourage companies to locate in downtown and to use our existing parking spaces that are going unfilled because of the slow economy. It's an asset that we've got and we can induce companies to locate in downtown, that helps our restaurants, it helps everybody," Reed said.
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