They also say this isn't a normal parking garage. The seven-story structure, designed by the international architecture firm Ellerbe Beckett, will have 23,000 sf of ground-level retail space and be topped with a banquet center for use by the San Jose Rotary Club and others.

As a result, in addition to the cost of designing the non-garage spaces, the structure itself has to be built much stronger to eliminate vibrations common to stand-alone garages but not desirable when you've got a banquet facility on top of the structure. In addition, five glass elevators and a special metal paneling along Fourth Street to soften the visual impact on residents of the apartment complex across the street added nearly $5 million to the project's cost.

The lowest construction bid for the project, $35.06 million, is more than $6 million above what city officials expected based on their own estimates. All told -- including the cost of land, architecture services and other expenses -- the parking garage planned for the northeast corner of Fourth and San Fernando streets is now expected to cost $52.2 million, for which the city council last night authorized the issuance of $55 million in bonds. In the fall of 1999, city staff had the cost pegged at $31.4 million.

Only two companies submitted bids last week for the garage. The city council is awarding the contract to Hensel Phelps Construction Inc., builder of the San Jose State University library across San Fernando Street, expected to open in 2003, is another reason why the city council opted to move forward with the garage project despite the high bids. The garage, a year behind schedule, now is scheduled for completion in May 2002.