After years of planning, construction is officially underway on the first piece of the Mason Mile project, a development city leaders and business owners hope will transform downtown Mason and address a long-standing parking sho rtage.WATCH: Mason Mile construction underway Construction begins on Mason MileCrews began work Thursday on a new parking lot that will add about 130 spaces near downtown. The lot is also expected to serve as a venue for community events and represents the first visible step in the larger Mason Mile vision.For downtown business owners, the project has been years in the making.You know the whole city of Mason is a really great town. Its very attractive. It has very nice sidewalks, streetscapes. It has all the stuff except for downtown, said Todd Hudson, owner of Wildflower Cafe.Business owners say limited parking has made it difficult to attract visitors and support growth.Youre seeing that all over the Cincinnati area. A lot of small communities, a lot of small towns are getting revitalized and rehabilitated, and its our turn, said Mark Lortz, owner of Common Beer Company.Business owners raised the issue during WCPO 9s Lets Talk event at Common Beer Company, saying the lack of parking has held downtown back for years.Ive been kind of handcuffed without parking for some time now, Lortz said. I actually opened up my business with four spots.Lortz has operated his brewery on East Main Street for eight years and has watched growth occur throughout the city while downtown redevelopment plans remained largely on hold.Theres been a long pause of 18-19 years that we finally have boots on the ground back here, Hudson said.Former Mason City Council member Mark Haake said the parking project is the result of years of planning.Weve been working for the past four years or so trying to collect data, trying to build a plan, a master plan for the Mason Mile, and this is the first physical manifestation of that, Haake said.City leaders say the project is about more than parking. They hope it will encourage additional investment, improve walkability and create a more vibrant downtown destination.Get one piece in and then hopefully another supports another and back-and-forth, Haake said.Business owners believe the additional parking will make it easier for customers to visit existing businesses while encouraging new entrepreneurs to invest in downtown Mason.People want to spend their money in Mason, Lortz said. If we can provide that to them, this is a great first step to make sure that continues to happen.The new parking lot is expected to open as early as the end of the year, with supporting infrastructure complete by this summer. Additional work on the Mason Mile project is in store. WCPO 9 News at 7 p.m. ...read more read less