Mayo wants to use the former Kmart site for parking

Mayo Clinic is looking to lease the former Kmart site and use it for employee parking, a spokesperson confirmed Monday.

"With growing employee numbers, Mayo Clinic is continuously looking for ways to accommodate employee parking needs,” said the spokesperson for Mayo. “We believe the Kmart lot, as an existing lot near the downtown area, could be one option to help us meet those needs. We are working with the property owners and with the City of Rochester to hopefully address permitting and zoning issues in order to move forward."

Mayo plans to convert the site into 1,400 staff parking spaces by mid-November, according to a memo posted to an internal news channel.

The parking would be exclusively for employees at the St. Marys campus, and would be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. An intracampus shuttle would transport staff to and from the lot, the memo said.

Mayo’s plan for parking at the site, located just south of downtown Rochester, follows the closure of the former Kmart store there. The adjacent Salvation Army also plans to close by the end of this month.

The entire complex was sold earlier this year for $7 million. Thus far, no demolition permits have been filed for the Ninth Street site. Any potential change to the property would require city council approval.

The announcement from Mayo comes as city leaders decide on how to move forward with long-range transit planning. Officials from the city and Destination Medical Center are proposing to make Broadway one of two mass transit corridors (the other is Second Street Southwest).

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.

Cover photo courtesy Google Maps