Johnson Controls will add four stories to parking garage

Glendale — Johnson Controls will build a four-story addition on its existing parking garage at its Glendale campus.

The Plan Commission signed off on vertical addition Tuesday night. Part of the original master plan presented to the city four years ago, the new parking will help ease a parking crunch that has developed over the last year.

Debrah Vander Heiden, the director of headquarter projects, said the number of on-site employees has grown from 600 in 2007 to 900 in 2011.

"Right now we have employees parking on Florist (Avenue)," Vander Heiden said. "We have secured a remote lot and are shuttling employees offsite. We want to bring that all onsite and the most cost effective way is to do all four levels now."

Stephen Miller of Gensler Architects said adding more at grade parking at the location is not practical because a wetland and solar field.

Vander Heiden said the open space is also necessary for stormwater management on site.

Designed and built with green building methods, the buildings and surrounding prairie landscaping make it a showcase for the company.

"We are a LEED Platinum certified site," Vander Heiden said. "We have the greatest concentration of LEED platinum buildings in the world."

Construction will take place between June 4 and Nov. 4. Because the contractor cannot lift building materials over occupied space, the city has granted a variance allowing work on Saturday and Sunday from June to September.

"All the lifts will be in off hours," Vander Heiden said.

The Board of Appeals also granted a variance allowing the building to exceed a 60-foot maximum height by 1 feet and five inches.

Vander Heiden said the current structure has 422 parking spaces; the addition will bring 433.