ROCHESTER — Additional parking near the former Kmart store turned a corner Monday.

The Rochester City Council voted unanimously to allow the addition of 642 parking spaces, which will be split between the former Kmart and AMPI lots, which are owned by Camegaran LLC.

With the new parking allowed, the area is expected to provide a total of 1,383 parking spaces, with the majority being rented to Mayo Clinic for their employees.

“I think the added parking here as a temporary solution as we move toward developing the (Downtown Waterfront S.E. Small Area Plan) is great,” said council member Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick, who represents the area.

Parking on the former Kmart site started in 2020 as a temporary measure to use the space as the site’s new owner worked to develop a plan to redevelop the site. At the time, Camegaran signed a nearly eight-year lease with Mayo Clinic and the city, which maintains the right to use some of the spaces.

Rochester Community Development Deputy Director Ryan Yetzer said portions of the lease are expected to be revisited with the added parking, but the length of the agreement is expected to remain the same.

The current lease calls for Camegaran to submit a development plan to the city by the end of 2024, with the expectation that the Mayo Clinic parking will end in 2028.

During Tuesday’s meeting, council members also approved combining former Kmart and AMPI properties into a single 24-acre parcel for planned future development.

The new parking plan calls for demolishing a portion of the former Kmart retail complex, opening space for parking east and west of the former Kmart store. A total of 247 spaces will be added to the lot.

Another 395 planned parking spaces will be moved to the north end of the former AMPI site, just south of an existing Mayo Clinic employee lot near Third Avenue Southeast, which is commonly known as the Fullerton lot.

Camegaran owner Pat Regan has said the change maintains options for the Kmart building and shifts some of the new parking spaces away from neighbors to the south and east of the former retail store.

On the AMPI site, several small steel buildings will be razed to provide room for the new parking, which would also make way for a potential extension of Sixth Street Southeast in the future.

Regan said work related to larger buildings on the site will be the subject of future development requests.

A small-area plan for 61 acres that include the former Kmart and AMPI sites, as well as surrounding areas, calls for a variety of housing, commercial and other uses in the future.

What happened: The Rochester City Council approved the potential to add parking to the combined 24-acre site that once housed Kmart and AMPI.

Why does this matter: The parking provides temporary space for Mayo Clinic employees while the property owner seeks plans to redevelop the site by 2028.

What's next: The property owner will seek additional permits for the added parking while also working to update a lease agreement with Mayo Clinic and the city related to the site.