City of Raleigh considers South Wilmington parking deck bid, free parking at risk

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The City of Raleigh is considering selling a parking garage in downtown Raleigh that is known for its two-hour free parking.

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According to a Raleigh spokesperson, the city received a bid to sell the South Wilmington Street Station Parking deck, while the city has been considering the costs to continue maintaining garages and parking downtown.

“That parking deck is huge for our families,” CEO of Marbles Kids Museum Jonathan Frederick said.

The parking garage is located across the street from Marbles Kids Museum.

“Over the last few days we had over 3,000 families come, and two-thirds of them parked in that deck,” Frederick said.

The museum CEO said he is fighting to keep that option still free for families.

“It absolutely would hurt our business model for that parking deck to become private. It would hurt what we do, it would threaten what we do,” said Frederick. “We want to make sure that all families who want to play can afford to come play.”

The city implemented free two-hour parking in five different decks in 2024.

Bill King, CEO of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, said that the South Wilmington deck has seen 37% more parkers than before the free parking program began.

“We did a survey last year in all of these decks, and that deck had the highest number of people who say they were visiting downtown because of that program,” King said.

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The city owns 10 decks total, and King said the council should consider selling one of the other decks instead, claiming that the South Wilmington deck is crucial to downtown Raleigh’s growth.

“The decks are not all equal, so I think taking a look and seeing, well maybe selling that one, we get a whole lot more revenue into the system and really be able to change things without disrupting Marbles or without disrupting small businesses,” King said.

The City of Raleigh declined an interview with but sent this statement:

“We understand the interest in the City-owned parking decks. We also understand the tremendous tax burden on residents regarding the on-going maintenance and operation of these structures. Even with proposed increases to hourly, daily, and monthly rates as part of the City’s adopted FY27 budget, there still remains a gap in funding to support the on-going maintenance and operational needs. In March and April, our Transportation Department explained the intent to put out an RFI [request for information] on the Wilmington Street Station Parking Deck, one of 10 parking decks within the City parking system, to see if there might be any interest in buying the facility. During the preparation of the RFI, the City was presented with an offer to purchase the Wilmington Street Station Parking Deck that will be presented to the City Council for consideration of starting the statutory upset-bid process.”

King said he’s hoping Raleigh leaders think thoroughly about how the potential sale could impact the heart of the city.

“I really hope they would consider the impact that this could have to downtown in terms of visitors and finding ways to work with our institutions and small businesses to accommodate their users,” King said.

Raleigh City Council will consider if it moves forward with the upset bid process on July 7.

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