The Downtown Mobility Authority (DMA) has reported that the Downtown Mobility Center is causing revenue and net income to “trend above budget,” and that they are looking to get creative to attract new users.
“Revenue [is] ahead of budget by 3.6 percent and expenses under budget by 5.6 percent,” the authority reported.
The organization met in person on Wednesday, November 15 at 114 North Main Street, while the public was encouraged to join virtually via Zoom. This was the final meeting of the group until January 2024.
During the meeting, officials gave updates on the Downtown Mobility Center at 60 Beale Street. The center opened on August 3, and was a $42 million project. When announced, the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) said that there would be about 960 parking spaces, a biker commuter station, and commercial space.
To encourage use of the garage, the DMA has offered incentives with places like the Orpheum, where they encourage season ticket holders to use a special promo code for parking discounts.
“We’re really pleased that the Mobility Center has been trending above budget in terms of revenue,” officials said. “We have parking agreements already established with AutoZone with the parking on street corners. We’re working with Premium [Parking] to get creative with adding more subscriptions and helping the user utilization at the facility.”
The authority says it continually looks to plan and manage future hospitality and maintenance items for the facility. It is also looking to increase occupancy, and is selecting tenants for the retail space in the facility.
The DMA also reported other highlights in other garages such as First Park Place, Criminal Justice Center, and 250 Peabody Place. Officials said the First Park Place garage at 21 South Second Street is over budget (eight percent) in revenue, and noted that it is a “high performing facility across the portfolio.”
The garage at 250 Peabody Place has also seen significant growth, specifically between September and October, where officials say transient parking grew 60 percent. According to officials, this is due to the start of the FedExForum event season, as well as Memphis Redbird games.
Officials also discussed electric vehicle (EV) charging use, as the Downtown Mobility Center includes four EV charging spaces. Other DMA facilities have two of these spaces.
“[The] goal is to have 2 percent existing and 5 percent EV-ready capacity, ramping up as demand dictates,” said the DMA. “In every parking facility 2 percent of spaces are already open, with chargers on site, and five percent EV-ready, so they can be plugged in and installed as needed.”
The most used garage for EV charging is the Barboro Flats Garage at 100 Gayoso Avenue. DMA officials said that the DMC is working with Premium Parking and Blink, another electric vehicle charging group, to install additional chargers at the garage, with no purchase or installation charge to the DMA.
DMC president and mayor-elect Paul Young also announced that demolition can begin on the DMA’s 100 North Main Street, the city’s tallest building. According to Young, officials met around this same time last year to discuss interior demolition to start the project. Young said that they have not closed on the project, but expects them to in the coming months.
“The development team is ready to begin,” said Young. “They’re going to be doing a groundbreaking on November 30, where they’re going to kick off the start of the process. It’s been a long journey.”
Edge Development Growth Engine (EDGE) is providing a loan to the developer team for the project to cover some of the costs.