You can sense it in those construction cranes sprouting everywhere these days like tulips in the spring: private and public monies are finding their way back to building urban and suburban mixed-use developments.
Yet are we really emerging at last from the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008? By most accounts, yes, BUT… volatile economic times may yet continue. Regardless of who may have won the White House, our American economy is looking down the barrel of higher interest rates, like an egg a few good hits away from cracking.
All this means significant risks remain for developers and public agencies charged with right-sizing parking in support of mixed use developments. But don’t fear: there are THREE remedies!
Remedy #1: Ensure that your financial projections for parking facilities are highly realistic and effectively “speak truth to power”, to help safeguard the parking revenue bond issuer and investor alike (not to mention your reputation!).
Remedy #2: Do your part to foster productive relationships among developers, public agencies, elected officials and parking consultants, because just as much as accurate projections, these relationships will help you mitigate the risks associated with servicing public debt for parking facilities.
Remedy #3: Attend our PIE session: Mixed Use / Shared-Risk: Funding Parking in a Volatile Economy. Using examples from past projects in which we’ve teamed – as well as our deep experience in projects elsewhere – BCRA and CMA presenters will describe the keys to preparing the most accurate and realistic financial projections, and offer proven advice for guiding the parking development process to ensure “financially-sustainable” parking projects are delivered.
Through a case study / lessons-learned format, Ken, Barbara and Joe will share their experience in public-private development projects in Towson, MD and elsewhere. And learning through personal anecdotes, blended with the technicalities of shared-parking, pricing and financial analyses, you will easily clear the hurdles that accompany any new parking development – large or small – in 2017 and beyond!