AGENDA #2.2(b)
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Status Report on Temporary Parking, Transit Transfer Center Funding, and Other Issues
DATE: October 27, 2004
This memorandum responds to requests from the Council Committee on Lots 2 and 5 to provide staff reports on the following:
In addition, the materials include a preliminary review of potential housing resources for the affordable housing component, as well as additional information related to test borings on the site and appraisals of the site.
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BACKGROUND
On August 25, 2004, the Council Committee reached consensus on a potential phasing plan for developing Parking Lots 2 and 5, the space above the Wallace Parking Deck and adjacent property, and the RBC-Centura site. The consultant has used this plan to develop his financial analysis under consideration tonight. The plan includes the following steps:
1. Find off-site parking spaces to account for the loss of parking with the development of Parking Lot #5.
2. Explore funding sources for construction of a transit transfer center at Lot #2, estimated to cost $2.7 million.
3. Start construction on the Wallace parking deck and Parking Lot 5, estimated to take 15 to 18 months.
4. RBC-Centura Bank moves out of its building at Rosemary and Columbia Streets to a new building at Parking Lot #5 upon completion of the construction at Lot #5.
5. Start construction on a parking deck at the RBC-Centura site.
6. Start construction at Lot #2, including the transit transfer station.
At the meeting the Council Committee requested that staff provide information on the amount and location of public parking that would be needed off-site while Lot #5 is developed, and explore potential grant funds that the Town could pursue to finance the transit center construction.
DISCUSSION
Loss of Parking at Lot #5: Interim Options
Attachment 1 describes options for adding on-street parking spaces in the downtown area and adding parking meters to existing on-street spaces to provide additional hourly parking while the underground parking garage at Parking Lot #5 is under construction.
Development of Parking Lot #5 will cause the loss of approximately 170 spaces, of which 30 to 40 are leased, with the remainder available on an hourly basis. The project schedule in the Financial Analysis Report by Stainback Public-Private Real Estate (see Agenda Item # 2.2a) anticipates construction starting on Lot #5 in 2007, finishing in late 2008.
The financial model assumes a 539-space underground parking garage would be built as part of the development of Lot #5; the facility would include 173 public parking spaces so that all of the public parking currently provided at the lot would be replaced.
Attachment 1 provides an analysis of options for temporary parking. In summary, we have identified 18 potential new on-street spaces at two locations, 30 spaces currently reserved for residential permit parking only where meters could be installed, and 50 to 90 unrestricted parking spaces on Cameron Avenue which the Town could turn into hourly parking by installing parking meters.
The analysis does not consider any potential for use of off-street spaces in existing lots where there may be some excess capacity. Further discussions with owners of downtown parking lots are needed.
A key point for consideration is that conditions will change between now and the time that construction might begin. Any forecast of parking spaces available likely will be wrong.
Lot #2 Transit Transfer Center: Potential Funding Sources
Attachment 2 describes several potential sources of federal and State funding for the proposed under-grade transit transfer center at Town Parking Lot #2. The project timetable proposes construction at Lot #2 to begin in August 2010, which would give the Town several years to secure the estimated $2.7 million needed to build the transit transfer center.
Attachment 2 does not discuss potential Town sources of funding such as those identified in the consultant’s public-private finance plan (see Agenda Item # 2.2a). The consultant, for example, suggests that to pay for the transit transfer center the Town could use a $2.7 million lump-sum land-lease payment made by the developer of Wallace parking deck sites to the Town.
In order to secure funding in the timeframe necessary to construct the Transfer Facility by 2009, the Town may need to pursue several different approaches. The Town could request funding through the Congressional earmarking process and the North Carolina Statewide Transit Discretionary Grant program. Although funding in any given year would not provide the entire estimated cost of the transfer facility, allocations over several years could provide the necessary funding.
We will have to exercise care not to compete against ourselves for funding needed to pay for the new Transit Operations Center.
Housing: Potential Funding Sources
Attachment 3 examines several potential sources of funding that could be used to support the development of affordable housing and provide assistance to potential homebuyers. The Financial Analysis Report assumes that 20 percent of the housing units in the building program would be affordable. A more detailed plan would need to be proposed by a potential developer in the developer solicitation process.
Other Issues
Soil Borings: On October 16, 2004, the firm of Engineering Consulting Services conducted soil test borings on Lots 2 and 5.
Appraisal: The consultant commissioned appraisals of Lots 2 and 5 in the summer of 2004. We have requested additional review of the sites by an appraiser and hope to have information for the Council by October 27.
NEXT STEPS
The staff reports were prepared as background information to help the Council decide as it considers the next step (see Agenda Item #2.2c).
ATTACHMENTS