Downtown Growth Leads to Parking Issues
Downtown Phoenix parking fees likely to rise
Phoenix growth to limit spaces
Ginger D. Richardson The Arizona Republic Jun. 29, 2006 12:00 AM
Enjoy the cheap parking while it lasts because downtown boosters and city officials are toying with a proposal that could make it more expensive to leave the family sedan in downtown Phoenix.
Parking rates at Copper Square's street-side meters and publicly owned parking garages are among the lowest in the country. But now, a consultant has recommended boosting those fees, in part because a study has shown there will be a shortage of nearly 27,000 parking spaces within the next decade.
Although the hikes could be substantial, they probably won't happen for at least another couple of years. "This is not something that we are suggesting that we do tomorrow," said Brian Kearney, president and chief executive officer of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, which commissioned the parking study. "But it is something we are going to have to look at."
Because the idea is still in its infancy, exactly how much the rates would go up has not yet been discussed. But it is likely that increases would be phased in over time, perhaps beginning in 2008, when more people are expected in the city's core. "We don't want to raise the rates now and do anything that would adversely impact the current development of downtown Phoenix," Mayor Phil Gordon said Wednesday.
Ironically, it's that rampant growth that will eventually fuel the need for the increases, officials say. Historically, the downtown area has only bustled on game nights, when either the Arizona Diamondbacks or the Phoenix Suns were playing. But in the next 24 months, officials are bracing for as many as 7,500 new students as part of Arizona State University's downtown Phoenix campus. They also are looking at scores of new residents and visitors as condominium and tourism-related projects are completed. Those projects are expected to create even more spin-off development in the form of new retail and entertainment venues, and all that could lead to a widespread parking crunch if more spaces aren't built, downtown leaders say.
The parking recommendations were presented to the City Council's Downtown, Economy, Sports and International Subcommittee on Wednesday morning. Although some members said they agreed that parking in the downtown area is too inexpensive, they refrained from taking immediate action. Instead, they asked Kearney to present the same information to other council members as soon as possible. Kearney said that the partnership expects that much of the needed parking in the downtown area will eventually be built by the private sector, not the city. But he and other Phoenix officials say it still makes sense to look at raising fees at the existing public lots and garages because they are far below current market conditions. In fact, repeated studies have found that the city's rates are paltry compared with those in other downtown areas. Meter parking is just 60 cents an hour while most major cities charge a $1 or more, said Mike Frisbie, a traffic engineer and supervisor in Phoenix's Street Transportation Department. A 2005 analysis of North American parking rates by the real estate consulting firm Colliers International found that Phoenix was one of the five least-expensive places to park when it came to median unreserved parking rates in the downtown area. It costs just $43 a month here, compared with $150 in San Diego, $147.50 in Houston, and the $317.50 in Philadelphia.
Raising the parking rate would not only increase revenue, it would encourage people to look at alternative forms of transportation, such as the Valley's $1.5 billion light-rail system, which opens in 2008, officials say.
The goal is to give more people the opportunity to come downtown, eat and shop, all of which furthers Phoenix's downtown revitalization efforts. The challenge is not to set the rates too high. "We're the last people who would want to inhibit folks from coming downtown because the rates are too high," Kearney said. "But if you look at the really successful downtowns, none of them have cheap parking.
"That logic holds true for 32-year-old David Becerra, who will be getting his doctorate in social work at the new ASU downtown Phoenix campus. "One of the things that keeps me from coming downtown is the lack of things to do," said Becerra, of Phoenix. "I am from San Diego. And, yes, parking is expensive there, but there's a lot of activities, so (you pay it). "Phoenix will also need to look at how to better control the kind of parking that is built downtown in the coming years.
Officials know they don't want any more stand-alone garages or surface lots. Land prices are at a premium, and the city has made it a priority to build mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly streetscapes and buildings. So it's likely that they will create a set of minimum parking requirements or standards to which developers will have to adhere. That could mean requiring that new projects contain underground parking or that the parking is integrated into the design of a new building in an attractive and pleasing way. In the coming months, Phoenix officials, in conjunction with the partnership, plan to form a task force to study the issue. But it will probably be the end of the year before specific recommendations are released, officials say.
Phoenix growth to limit spaces
Ginger D. Richardson The Arizona Republic Jun. 29, 2006 12:00 AM
Enjoy the cheap parking while it lasts because downtown boosters and city officials are toying with a proposal that could make it more expensive to leave the family sedan in downtown Phoenix.
Parking rates at Copper Square's street-side meters and publicly owned parking garages are among the lowest in the country. But now, a consultant has recommended boosting those fees, in part because a study has shown there will be a shortage of nearly 27,000 parking spaces within the next decade.
Although the hikes could be substantial, they probably won't happen for at least another couple of years. "This is not something that we are suggesting that we do tomorrow," said Brian Kearney, president and chief executive officer of the Downtown Phoenix Partnership, which commissioned the parking study. "But it is something we are going to have to look at."
Because the idea is still in its infancy, exactly how much the rates would go up has not yet been discussed. But it is likely that increases would be phased in over time, perhaps beginning in 2008, when more people are expected in the city's core. "We don't want to raise the rates now and do anything that would adversely impact the current development of downtown Phoenix," Mayor Phil Gordon said Wednesday.
Ironically, it's that rampant growth that will eventually fuel the need for the increases, officials say. Historically, the downtown area has only bustled on game nights, when either the Arizona Diamondbacks or the Phoenix Suns were playing. But in the next 24 months, officials are bracing for as many as 7,500 new students as part of Arizona State University's downtown Phoenix campus. They also are looking at scores of new residents and visitors as condominium and tourism-related projects are completed. Those projects are expected to create even more spin-off development in the form of new retail and entertainment venues, and all that could lead to a widespread parking crunch if more spaces aren't built, downtown leaders say.
The parking recommendations were presented to the City Council's Downtown, Economy, Sports and International Subcommittee on Wednesday morning. Although some members said they agreed that parking in the downtown area is too inexpensive, they refrained from taking immediate action. Instead, they asked Kearney to present the same information to other council members as soon as possible. Kearney said that the partnership expects that much of the needed parking in the downtown area will eventually be built by the private sector, not the city. But he and other Phoenix officials say it still makes sense to look at raising fees at the existing public lots and garages because they are far below current market conditions. In fact, repeated studies have found that the city's rates are paltry compared with those in other downtown areas. Meter parking is just 60 cents an hour while most major cities charge a $1 or more, said Mike Frisbie, a traffic engineer and supervisor in Phoenix's Street Transportation Department. A 2005 analysis of North American parking rates by the real estate consulting firm Colliers International found that Phoenix was one of the five least-expensive places to park when it came to median unreserved parking rates in the downtown area. It costs just $43 a month here, compared with $150 in San Diego, $147.50 in Houston, and the $317.50 in Philadelphia.
Raising the parking rate would not only increase revenue, it would encourage people to look at alternative forms of transportation, such as the Valley's $1.5 billion light-rail system, which opens in 2008, officials say.
The goal is to give more people the opportunity to come downtown, eat and shop, all of which furthers Phoenix's downtown revitalization efforts. The challenge is not to set the rates too high. "We're the last people who would want to inhibit folks from coming downtown because the rates are too high," Kearney said. "But if you look at the really successful downtowns, none of them have cheap parking.
"That logic holds true for 32-year-old David Becerra, who will be getting his doctorate in social work at the new ASU downtown Phoenix campus. "One of the things that keeps me from coming downtown is the lack of things to do," said Becerra, of Phoenix. "I am from San Diego. And, yes, parking is expensive there, but there's a lot of activities, so (you pay it). "Phoenix will also need to look at how to better control the kind of parking that is built downtown in the coming years.
Officials know they don't want any more stand-alone garages or surface lots. Land prices are at a premium, and the city has made it a priority to build mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly streetscapes and buildings. So it's likely that they will create a set of minimum parking requirements or standards to which developers will have to adhere. That could mean requiring that new projects contain underground parking or that the parking is integrated into the design of a new building in an attractive and pleasing way. In the coming months, Phoenix officials, in conjunction with the partnership, plan to form a task force to study the issue. But it will probably be the end of the year before specific recommendations are released, officials say.
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