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.
