Birmingham Downtown Parking (Southside, Five Points: apartment, lease, credit)

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https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingh...irmingham.html

The city continues to grow as businesses boost footprints, new industries bid on Birmingham and exciting developments bring fresh opportunities and amenities.

As the city transforms, the places that are most desirable to work are also being molded into attractive destinations to live and play. Areas like the Southside, Parkside and Central Business District now have some of the most popular restaurants, bars and entertainment venues.

With new development, unique businesses and a fresh lease on life with the world reopening, more people are regularly going downtown. But as the foot traffic thickens, where will this influx of people park? Because Birmingham residents come with a caveat — most prefer to park as close as possible to their destination’s entrance.

Marlon Drake, CEO of Parking Professionals, said the city has parking issues when event venues are booked downtown. With a majority of street-only parking to work with, parking for an event starting before 5 p.m. not only presents limited parking, but also causes rifts with other business owners.

“They don’t want us parking cars right there in front of their business,” Drake said. “Although we’re not in their driveway and we’re not blocking their driveway, just the fact we have those cars in front of those buildings on a public street — a lot of them take offense to it.”

According to the executive director and CEO of the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center Authority, Tad Snider, the BJCC, Protective Stadium and Legacy Arena coordinate with the Birmingham Parking Authority as well as several other privately owned parking asset owners when larger events are in town.

But some venues simply don’t have any on-site parking or very much parking to begin with, leaving developers to get creative with the way they go about realizing future projects.

According to Birmingham City Councilman Darrell O’Quinn of District 5, which includes downtown neighborhoods such as Southside, Five Points South, Central City, Druid Hills and Forest Hills, developers determine the amount of parking that is required for their projects in the city center due to the absence of parking minimums.

The recent passage of an adaptive reuse incentive overlay gave developers a sort of “parking pass” to more easily redevelop older buildings throughout the city without on-site parking requirements.

With limited street parking, developers would have to utilize alternative parking options, including renting a lot or a parking deck to accommodate the use of the development.

Local developer Mike Mouron, who is redeveloping the Magnolia Point building on the Southside, plans to arrange a form of shared parking for future tenants’ patrons.

“With Magnolia Point we’re trying, and I think we’re close to striking an agreement with a user that ... most of the parking demand will be in the evening. That’s a good way to use the parking at 2200 Magnolia that is used during the day mostly and then convert it so that the adjoining property uses it mostly at night,” Mouron said.

Mixed-use developments like 20 Midtown were constructed with parking underneath the residential component for its residents, but the three buildings that make up 20 Midtown only have parking to sustain themselves, and that does not include additional parking for patrons of nearby establishments.

“We have parking issues with a lot of people who are not supposed to be parking in our parking lot, but they are ... so I know that the Midtown area has a major parking need,” said Dick Schmalz, one of the developers of 20 Midtown.

Parkside is another area that has quickly become popular and is experiencing parking woes.

Drake said he’s had conversations with venues in Parkside, Regions Field, B&A, The Fennec and Red Mountain Theatre, and parking is always an issue due to reliance on primarily on-street parking in an area where some apartment residents and their guests compete for spots.

“You have the entertainment venues looking to use street parking, you have the tenants of all these new constructions that are looking to use street parking. Region’s Field — when they have baseball games — I mean, there’s absolutely nowhere to park,” Drake said.

Because of the lack of parking in certain areas, investors and developers find it easier to acquire property that already includes parking in the deal.

Local investor Eric Guster, who acquired a former restaurant property downtown to convert into a food truck court, recently said one reason why he purchased a property with 30-plus surface parking spaces is to avoid the problems of limited parking.

“In Birmingham, if you don’t get a parking space in a block and a half, you’re going to circle the block two times and go home, and that’s why the deals I like include parking,” Guster said. “If it doesn’t have parking, I don’t move with it. There are buildings right now on the market that are great buildings but don’t have parking.”

Mouron acquired a 20,000-square-foot First Avenue South property with an unusual arrangement that included an easement of 80 parking spaces located in a parking deck half a block away, giving the property an impressive four to one parking ratio.

“There are unique little situations like that, but again, they’re not easy to find,” Mouron said. “I think that’s why the area around Railroad Park is so very popular, but at the same time, parking is a challenge.”

But not everyone thinks there isn’t enough parking in downtown Birmingham. O’Quinn said there is a great deal of underutilized parking in the city center.

While there are about 7,500 spaces within a block of BJCC venues, more than 10,000 spaces within walking distance to the BJCC and four Birmingham Parking Authority parking decks close to the BJCC that can be utilized to supplement parking needs, Snider said nearby decks seldom reach full occupancy.

“We find that parking decks often are not completely sold out around the BJCC even on large event days,” Snider said. “Some patrons seem to prefer surface parking or look for on-street parking opportunities while some patrons utilize our parking decks and parking garage.”

David Fleming, president and CEO of REV Birmingham, said a study done on the downtown parking issues revealed there is an adequate amount of parking in the area, but it is not being utilized effectively.

“There’s a lot of parking in downtown, but it’s just not always where people think they want it to be,” Fleming said. “There is so much excess parking capacity in city of Birmingham decks and things in downtown. The problem is that our society thinks we need to be able to drive out and park right next to the front door.”

Developers expressed concerns over hot areas for development like Midtown and Parkside where if things develop as currently proposed, Fleming said you could make a case that there could be a parking deficiency.

The REV Birmingham study showed where developers could construct shared parking solutions where the Parking Authority could come in and help with management. And, not all developers build next to decks.

According to Schmalz, he and other developers are working with REV Birmingham and other local entities on a plan to invest into additional parking infrastructure for downtown patrons.

“We do see an opportunity to build more parking on those sites than we need to support,” he said. “We’re going to do our best to provide as much extra as we can,” Schmalz said.

Schmalz said there are three more building sites in conjunction with the future development of the Ford dealership nearby where on at least two of the sites, there is potential to add extra parking.

Developing parking is costly, and developers expect a return on investment.

“Construction of parking is expensive,” O’Quinn said. “Cost per space in surface lots is roughly $25,000 and at least twice that for structured facilities.”

Fleming said partnership with the city will likely be necessary to create more parking that will assist developers.

Fleming believes one key is a shared parking management strategy used to connect the dots on assets and help people feel comfortable using them.

O’Quinn said he would like to see more efficient use of existing parking facilities through cooperation, collaboration and continued improvement of shared transportation options.

The BJCC currently coordinates with the Birmingham Parking Authority and other privately owned parking asset owners for parking associated with larger events, and Snider is eager for more partnerships.

Birmingham Parking Authority Executive Director and CEO Andre Davis said BPA wants to encourage economic development and be an asset.

“Our desire is to be a supporter of progress and not an inhibitor,” he said. “It is our obligation to provide our community with an exceptional parking experience.”

Fleming said people have proven they will park and walk all over the place at destinations like Walt Disney World because it’s interesting along the way, they feel safe doing it, and they know where they’re going. The more the city can achieve those things, it will help influence the mental shift needed for people to want to be able to park and walk.

“Parking has to be easy,” Fleming said. “It has to be easy to understand, you need to know where it is and how to do it. It’s one of the reasons why I think it has been a great achievement of the city in recent years. Give them credit for having upgraded the street parking system so it can be done by a mobile app now.”

The BJCC is invested in alternatives to parking, such as working with ride-hailing providers to make ride-hailing corrals and designated drop-off and pick up points more effective.

One residential development, The Citizen, located at 300 18th St. S., is foregoing any parking element in its construction altogether, encouraging residents to use nearby parking decks for storage of personal vehicles, walk more and utilize ride-hailing options.

“Parking downtown is easier for folks who are accustomed to urban environments and are willing to think beyond the suburban model of parking at the front door of their destination,” O’Quinn said.

Mouron thinks as more residential options come online downtown, Birmingham will become more of a pedestrian city.

“I think people who are living downtown, who are parked in a parking deck anyway, may determine that it’s easier to walk three blocks than it is to get their car out of the deck and get out on the road and then (look) for a space themselves,” Mouron said.

As new developments continue to grow downtown, the entertainment and tourism industry becomes stronger as well, drawing both statewide and regional attention to the city.

The potential that the city will get a new amphitheater near Uptown is growing, and it appears leaders behind the development plan are thinking ahead in terms of where both event goers and residents will park in The Star at Uptown development.

According to Birmingham City Councilman Hunter Williams of District 2, the Carraway redevelopment plans include 2,100 parking spaces in decks that will be rehabilitated as part of the project. While some parking will be for residents in new housing on the site, many of those spaces will be available for event parking, too.

Snider said the BJCC also has plans to develop two additional parking lots that will become part of its regular parking plan.