[bouldercouncilhotline] Hotline: Parking in CAGID lots Downtown

[cmosupport at bouldercolorado.gov]

Sender: Winter, Molly


Dear Macon:
 
A chart with the public parking rates as well as the private rates are reported in the chart below.  Staff does survey private parking providers on the hill and downtown annually around April to determine our recommendations for public
parking rates for the budget process which is finalized in the 4th quarter and then takes effect the following year.  Staff proposes to raise the garage permit rates from $330 to $360 per quarter in 2016; the Council may weigh in on the proposal
during the budget process.   Since 2014 our parking rates in the downtown have increased by 28.6%  in the garages and 21.9% in the surface lots in order to keep pace with the market trends.   
 
I wanted to share some other factors we consider when determining our public parking rates:
 
In the case of  private parking providers,  it is important to note that some of the private parking providers permit their parking to their tenants only. While each private parking rate may vary,  in the case of One Boulder Plaza, the $600/quarter is their published rate.   The  actual parking permit cost for each tenant is often lower and negotiated as part of their building rent lease.  According to One Boulder Plaza, the average cost is actually around $540 per quarter, varying by the tenant lease negotiation which is the result of many different factors.  Also included in the lease negotiations is the amount of parking provided for the tenants’ clients.  Those tenants are primarily larger, professional firms such as lawyers and financial institutions.  The private parking providers offer the ease and convenience of on-site parking which is a factor in attracting certain tenants, as well as certainty of parking availability. Since the private parking providers primary focus is providing parking for their tenants, their short term rates are often purposely kept high as they wish to discourage short term, non-tenant related parking.

 
 
CAGID has the responsibility to provide parking to all downtown users and tenants regardless of business type and location or reason for visiting our downtown – governmental, retail, social, entertainment, business or just hanging out. 
We have a wide range of types of employees – professionals but also service and retail workers.  Hence the factors we consider when pricing parking are different than those of private parking facilities.  Our parking is off-site and is a mix of both permit and short term, visitor parking, and is not guaranteed.  We are careful  about how much we oversell parking permits in the range of 125% to 105%; the purpose of course is to maximize use of our existing facilities.  That said, it is important that we remain within the market parking pricing range so we are competitive and continue to use parking pricing as an effective tool to encourage turnover, maintain an economically viable commercial downtown, encourage the use of other transportation modes but also provide a balance of options, including parking,  for our diverse users.  
 
Another factor that we consider in the district parking pricing is that downtown, as well as University Hill and Boulder Junction, are parking general improvement districts.  This means that properties within the parking districts pay an additional mill levy for parking and parking related improvements.  This district approach has been instrumental in our fundamental approach to parking the SUMP principles - shared unbundled, managed and paid - which has allowed for the construction in the downtown of our five parking facilities and surface lots. It also has been an integral factor in the development of our multi modal transportation solutions such as the downtown Eco pass program which have resulted in the highest alternative mode use in the city.   It does mean that the downtown property owners are already paying an additional tax to support the parking system so it is difficult to make an exact comparison between CAGID  and private parking providers. 
 
I hope this helps in providing a broader context for how we approach the pricing and management of public parking.  I would be happy to talk with you further.  Please let me know if you have any further questions.   
Sincerely,
Molly
 
  
Garages
2015

2016
% increase
CAGID
$330
$360

9%

Private:
1095 Canyon, Arrete
$450/qtr


1050 Walnut, Exeter Building
$375/qtr

1881 9th, Canyon Center
$375/qtr

Pearl St Mall Properties
$525/qtr

One Boulder Plaza *
$600/qtr


Surface Lots:


CAGID
$200/qtr
$210

5%

1421 Spruce
$225/qtr

2200 Broadway
$210/qtr

1128 Pine
$225/qtr


*published rate.
 

From: Cowles, Macon

Sent: Monday, July 20, 2015 10:28 PM
To: Winter, Molly; Brautigam, Jane
Cc: HOTLINE
Subject: Re: Parking in CAGID lots Downtown

Molly, thanks very much for the information that you have provided about downtown parking in City lots and City structured parking facilities.


You know far more about this than I do. It would be helpful for staff to present in a chart the charge for City parking in city facilities and other lots and structured parking facilities downtown. Because I was on Planning Board at the time of their approval, I know that One Boulder Plaza has 511 parking spaces in 4 different structures in the core, downtown area.

One Boulder Plaza currently charges $200 per month for parking spaces. Like the City, they oversell the spaces in order that the spaces are not empty for a substantial part of the time. City structures downtown charge $110 per month and city lots charge $67 per month. While Wells Fargo has only surface parking, their hourly charges are the equivalent of $200 per month. I wonder what a current survey of the parking lots at Trinity Lutheran(Broadway and Pine), 1360 Walnut, 1350 Pine St, 1317,1319 and 1327 Spruce St. would reveal about their parking charges?

It is not surprising that we have several hundred people on the wait list for city parking, as our rates appear to be substantially below market. One might look at this as a subsidy that is provided to people who drive downtown.


It may be good policy for the City to charge only half of what private property owners charge for parking. But if so, it would be helpful to review the rationale and consider whether this subsidy is good for the City’s overall goal of reducing traffic, congestion, carbon, search traffic and the other impacts associated with cars in the downtown.

Bill Cowern kindly provided information about the number of spaces in the Civic Area, between the West Senior Center and 14th Street. If there is low cost parking for City employees, that also needs to be reviewed. It is my understanding that the City charges employees and contractors even less than is charged for CAGID lots and structures. How much do we charge people for these spaces. Are there scratch coupons available for only $2 per day, or am I thinking of another time and place?


Finally, there are the NPP spaces adjacent to downtown. What are we charging for them, and what is the rationale for that? Clearly, such parking is not for shoppers, but only for commuters. It is fair that commuters pay to park on the side streets adjacent to downtown, but is the pricing adequate?

Jane, I would like to know if there is a time on our schedule when the Council can be presented with the full array of costs and revenues associated with downtown parking spaces. It really is a policy decision as to whether this subsidy
for downtown parking is consistent with the City’s goals.


There is no doubt that inexpensive, short term parking needs to be available to shoppers downtown. Further, parking for shoppers should also be convenient for shoppers—they should not have to go to the fourth floor of the lot at 15th and Pearl to find a spot, because all of the first in spots are taken by commuters who pay only 60% of what they would at another structured lot in town.

Thanks very much for your consideration of these issues. They are interesting and important.

Macon Cowles
Boulder City Council Member
1726 Mapleton Ave.
Boulder, Colorado 80304
CowlesM at bouldercolorado.gov
(303) 638-6884