Pinellas County commissioners are set to discuss a new parking garage at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport, a project airport officials say is urgently needed after years of record-breaking passenger growth overwhelmed the facility's existing lots. The garage, expected to cost around $60 million and add more than 2,000 parking spaces, would rise next to the terminal.
The upcoming discussion was reported by WTSP, which noted that commissioners will take up the garage proposal as the airport continues to grapple with surging demand. Airport director Mark Sprague has described parking as one of the facility's most persistent pain points, telling St. Pete Catalyst, “We've been having record-breaking passenger growth year after year for the past 10 to 15 years. So, one of the major complaints that we have is that we don't have any parking.” That outlet reported the garage adjacent to the terminal is projected to cost approximately $60 million and hold more than 2,000 spaces.
Record Crowds Strain a Small Lot
The pressure behind the project is rooted in numbers. PIE recorded 2,794,067 passengers in 2025, a new all-time high and a 14% jump over 2024, according to the same report from St. Pete Catalyst's facts as carried by the Business Observer. That topped the airport's previous full-year record of 2.49 million passengers set in 2023, the Business Observer's report noted.
Fox 13 News has reported that passenger counts rose 15% year over year and climbed nearly 200% between 2014 and 2024, underscoring just how quickly the airport's footprint has had to stretch to keep pace. Meanwhile, the facility currently offers just 3,260 parking spaces, and St. Pete Catalyst reported that the airport's long-term lot has been closing between Friday and Sunday during the first 11 months of the year because it simply runs out of room.
Conflicting Numbers on Size, Cost and Timeline
Exactly how big the new garage will be, and what it will cost, depends on which report you read. St. Pete Catalyst has described a roughly $60 million garage with more than 2,000 spaces, while Fox 13 News reported the project would ultimately add around 1,500 parking spaces. Citizenportal.ai, citing county staff proposals, described a four-level garage with roughly 2,000 to 2,300 spaces, and the Business Observer's report described a 2,000-space garage paired with a 300-space surface lot.
The price tag has shifted in public reporting too. The Tampa Bay Times reported in June 2025 that the airport was seeking to build a $45 million garage, while more recent coverage from St. Pete Catalyst put the budgeted figure at $60 million, with $30 million coming from grants and revenues and the remaining $30 million drawn from reserves.
Timelines diverge as well. One account anticipated the garage opening in late 2027, while St. Pete Catalyst reported that construction was expected to begin in January 2027, with the project completed by spring 2028. The Business Observer has reported that the new four-story garage is expected to replace the airport's 76-space Strawberry PIE parking lot.
How Travelers Would Get to the Terminal
Fox 13 News has reported that the county expects to run shuttle buses to ferry passengers between the new garage and the terminal, a detail that speaks to the facility's cramped footprint even as it expands parking capacity. For now, exactly which capacity, cost and construction figures commissioners will formally adopt remains to be settled as the board takes up the project.
