Second parking garage for UNLV under consideration

University regents on Thursday took another step toward building a second parking garage at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The proposed $15.5 million garage would add between 800 and 1,100 spaces in the Thomas & Mack Center parking lot at the southwest corner of campus.

To pay for the facility, parking fees would increase by as much as 10 percent each year for an indefinite period.

Regents voted to let UNLV officials solicit bids for the garage, with Regent Steve Sisolak suggesting that officials look at adding advertising space to the side of the building for special events. Sisolak said the university could earn thousands of dollars per day by allowing sponsors to put up signs, similar to those at hotels and parking garages near the Las Vegas Convention Center.

University officials also will look at outsourcing UNLV's parking services department, which would include outsourcing construction of the garage, UNLV Vice President for Finance and Business Administration Gerry Bomotti said.

But Bomotti said most companies would not find UNLV's parking financially viable because parking fees are low and there are many free parking options off campus.

The second garage is designed to alleviate the parking situation at the land-locked campus, which has lost nearly 2,000 parking spaces to construction projects in recent years.