When the tail wags the dog (or parking, the concert hall)

From a piece by Manville and Shoup, a couple of urban planners at UCLA:

Disney Hall's six-level, 2,188-space underground garage cost $110 million to build (about $50,000 per space).  Financially troubled Los Angeles County, which built the garage, went into debt to finance it, expecting that parking revenues would repay the borrowed money.  But the garage was completed in 1996, and Disney Hall -- which suffered from a budget less grand than its vision -- became knotted in delays and didn't open until late 2003.  During the seven years in between, parking revenue fell far short of debt payments (few people park in an underground structure if there is nothing above it) and the county, by that point nearly bankrupt, had to subsidize the garage even as it laid off employees.

The county owns the land beneath Disney Hall, and its lease for the site specifies that Disney Hall must schedule at least 128 concerts each winter season.  Why 128?  That's the minimum number of concerts that will generate the parking revenue necessary to pay the debt service on the garage.  And in its first year, Disney Hall scheduled exactly 128 concerts.  The parking garage, ostensibly designed to serve the Philharmonic, now has the Philharmonic serving it; the minimum parking requirements have led to a minimum concert requirement.

I guess the first lesson is that a city should never build the parking for a privately funded performing arts center until it's actually broken ground.  (I'm glad Austin won't make that mistake . . . )

The second is that public auditoriums and concert halls should be built near other centers of activity, so people can walk to them.  They will, if there are other things to do nearby.

I'll bet Hooters is gearing up for the grand opening of the Long Center.

Comments

[M1EK]

Now, be fair: as usual, we're only half as stupidly suburban as the rule: the place was already there; and the parking garage is used (presumably making revenue) for other park events such as concerts at Auditorium Shores.

What would really have been smrt, though, would have been to get a contract written with people using Zilker Park (ACL, Stones) requiring that it be used as Shuttle Stop #1.

[AC]

And it's probably making money on the Events Center too, which does a pretty good business. I haven't heard that the garage has been a financial burden. (See, I can be fair.)

This is really an unrelated point, but the surface lot at the auditorium was a popular park 'n ride spot before the garage was built (which was also before the Events Center was built). I was surprised when they closed that lot, given the congestion over the bridges.

[M1EK]

One of my fellow commissioners on the UTC ran (don't know if she still does) the jury pool for Travis County, and it came up about every meeting with Capital Metro for about two years. They were not surprisingly blase about locating a temporary-maybe-permanent alternative (softball fields west of Lamar, I think), given the fact that the Dillo service is a huge money-loser for them. Another sign of broken incentives...