A request for proposals recently issued by the city says it wants a mix of uses at the site, including commercial or residential spaces with associated parking. (The current structure has 476 spaces, with retail space on the lower, first and second levels.) The city is open to new construction or "substantial rehabilitation," it says.  

That option could prove expensive. The RFP says "while vertical load-bearing columns are structurally sound, significant engineering work is necessary to return the parking decks and ramps to a usable condition."  But demolition at the 24,000-square-foot development site, which encompasses 306. N. Tucker and 1122 Locust, could cost $870,000, according to the RFP.

In either case, the city says the mixed-use concept must "activate the ground floor and cater to the pedestrian realm surrounding the development, and visible facades to the north and west should be aesthetically pleasing."  

"If new construction is proposed," it continued, "preference will be given to designs which incorporate capacity for future conversion of parking areas into leasable space in the future should the demand for parking no longer be sustainable due to technological and other causes."