Strategic Investment Pays Off for Tacoma
Country music legend Kenny Rogers told us that have to “… know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.”
While many a gambler will attest that conservative play is best when the table gets dicey, more seasoned players know that a well-thought-out strategic gamble can save the day when the chips are down. It was in this vein that in 2005 – the leading edge of the eco-
nomic downturn – the city of Tacoma,WA, solicited developer- led proposals for the highest and best use of two of its downtown parking structures (built in 1969). In recent years,many called for the demolition of the two facilities, saying they had become eye- sores within the context of growth and new construction in the downtown core. The parking garages, nonetheless,were nearly fully leased to monthly parking customers and significant income-generators
bonds that had underwritten many of Tacoma’s recent develop- ment projects. Recognizing that some temporary loss of parking was
inevitable, the city determined that capacity could be reduced by as much as 50% throughout construction without jeopardizing necessary revenue targets. The general contractor, Absher Construction, working with
the city’s parking subcontractor, Republic Parking Northwest, used the top floor of the existing garage for construction staging throughout the project and the first floor for materials storage and construction office space. Parking on the middle levels was rearranged on a weekly basis to maintain safe access for the public, while allowing the construction crew to have access to work sites.
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Point of View from Page 6
What’s going to happen? Is the government going to
come to a private business and demand that they give away their product to someone just because they purchase an EV? And howdo youmake it happen? If you pull a ticket on
the way in, go up to the POF machine, what do you do? Tell it you are driving an EV? Yah, right. Or does the cashier let you out for free – anotherway to steal. You knowwhat I think? If you are going to charge based
on the car, it should be based on vehicle size – SUVs pay more thanMinis. Fine, they take upmore space. So how is an EV driver going to ensure that he or she
Photo by BLRB Architects/Dan Tyrpak Photographic
for the city.With a dated design aesthetic and serrated concrete finish that rapidly aged the buildings before their time, the struc- tures had taken on the appearance of gritty urban bunkers. In an economic climate duringwhichmany citiesmight have
opted to hold back, Tacoma’s leadership moved forward, inspired by a proposal from Pacific Plaza Development LLC that focused on an adaptive reuse of the existing Park Plaza South garage, rather than demolition and replacement construction. Once accepted by the city, the primary challenge for this pub-
lic-private partnership (PPP) then became how to renovate the aging structure while maintaining the cash flow supporting the
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gets a free parking space?Will they park in spaces run only by the local authority?What if they want to park at a cricket match or football game and the local team – can you say Cleveland Browns? See Charlie andWanda’s comments on PT’s Facebook page – won’t give them a free space. Does someone end up suing someone? California is stopping its free ride for hybrids in carpool
lanes. The hybrid owners are irate. They thought that since they bought a hybrid, they could use the carpool lanes forev- er. Guess again. So how much free parking does an EV owner get? They
pay 41K for a nice Volt, expecting free parking, and then in a couple of years the govern- ment changes itsmind. The entire concept is ridiculous.
Buy an EV to save the whales, but you won’t unless you get free parking? Enough already.
PT Parking Today
www.parkingtoday.com
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