St. Pete-Clearwater Airport Moves Forward With $60M Parking Garage After Record Growth
Pinellas County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to approve a contract with Finrock Enterprises. The decision was unanimous. A new parking structure at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport will rise four…
Pinellas County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to approve a contract with Finrock Enterprises. The decision was unanimous. A new parking structure at St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport will rise four stories and add 1,500 spots to the 3,300 that already exist.
The $60 million build will replace what's known as the Strawberry Pie Lot. Officials expect doors to open in late 2027, though design work won't kick off until early 2026 and construction begins a year after that.
PIE recorded 2.6 million passengers in 2025. That's a 15% jump from the previous year and the busiest stretch in the airport's history. More travelers meant parking became scarce, which forced officials to shut down lots when demand peaked.
"We've just been running out of parking," Michele Routh, PIE public relations director, said, according to WTSP. "On weekends, we'll be closing long term. We might close our primary economy lot. We don't want any passenger ever to miss a flight because of that."
Total parking will reach 4,800 spots once the structure opens. Officials secured all funding without loans or bonds.
About $6 million comes from an FDOT grant. Reserves will provide close to $30 million, and customer facility charges on rental cars will cover more than $24 million. Interim director Mark Sprague told commissioners that financing a project without borrowing is unusual for airports.
"Which is really unheard of," Sprague said, according to Bay News 9. "A lot of airports go out and get either bonds or loans for this, but we saw the growth and we saw what we needed to do and we saved the money in order to keep the costs low."
The shortage forced PIE to warn passengers not to drive during Thanksgiving week. Allegiant Air sent notices telling passengers to find other ways to get there.
The structure is one of three projects planned. Last month, officials approved a $15 million taxiway, and a $110 million terminal improvement is also in the works.
