Parking Supply/Demand Review, Parking Need Forecasting, Demand Management Alters, Conceptual Design and Capacity Options for a New Parking Structure, Bond Financing Feasibility for the New Structure.

DESMAN was jointly retained by the Erie Parking Authority and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Hamot Medical Center to assess the current and future parking needs of the downtown Erie-based medical center and to examine the feasibility of developing a new parking structure on campus.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The anticipated need for additional parking was driven new building construction and programming changes at the UPMC Hamot Medical Center campus and by impending privately sponsored redevelopments plans in the immediate vicinity of the Medical Center. UPMC was in the midst of adding more patient beds and new specialty care services at its hospital complex, as well as expanding accommodations for out-patient services offered by physicians and care providers housed in two separate medical office buildings in the area. Additionally, a private development entity, was expecting to commence work on a large mixed-use redevelopment on the eastside of the Erie Bayfront that will lead to the loss of two existing parking lots that UPMC had been leasing to accommodate some of its employees. The redevelopment plans of the Medical Center will increase the daily demand for parking and the Erie Bayfront redevelopment will reduce the existing supply of parking.

The DESMAN feasibility study tasks include: 1) an analysis of the extent to which the current supply of and demand for parking would be impacted by the private and institutional projects, 2) an assessment the probable scope of the impending parking deficit, 3) the conceptualize of an appropriately‐sized parking garage project with accompanying development cost estimates, 4) a statistical projection of the likely utilization of the parking structure, and 5) a forecast of the probable financial performance of the parking structure based on utilization projections and generally agreed upon operating assumptions. Together, these analyses contributed to the conclusions that DESMAN has made related to the economic feasibility of the proposed Peach Street Parking Ramp.