Quote:
Originally Posted by mhays
A transit agency should be very good at disposing of its excess land. This requires planning to understand their own future needs, but at scale it should be revenue-positive.
They might be hampered by rules from above. Ex: Sound Transit is required to sell its excess land for more than it was purchased for. For the initial rail line, they bought at an expensive time and finished in 2009 when values had cratered. So they sat on properties for several years, and still sit on some of them that are smaller and harder to develop. (Unless you want to build a few houses on 15' of width like here!) |
RTD's biggest problem is they think their land assets are worth infinitely more than they really are. Based on their mission, and mission alignment with the City of Denver, they want affordability in any housing component - that immediately restricts the valuation of their land. Going through their RFP and procurement processes further reduces the value of their land.
Two specific examples:
1. The City negotiated an excellent deal for them on the gravel pit on Colfax, which was to become the National Medal of Honor Museum. I think it was a 50 or 60 year land lease that would pay them like $75,000 a year. Fantastic use for an awkward site right on Civic Center Park! The National Medal of Honor organization was poised to select Denver. Then RTD's board scuttled the deal with unbelievably embarrassing comments. Every single RTD director/commissioner involved in that meeting should be barred from seeking further public offices based on comments like:
- "The city is supposed to be an amazing partner for us, why don't they give us even more money for the site?"
- "Why a museum, why not food trucks or something cute?"
- "And how many National Medal of Honor awardees are there really, why do they need a museum?"
Yes all of that really happened, and the worst comments were from Kate Williams who represented District A, which is Capitol Hill. National Medal of Honor did not happen in Denver, they went to Arlington, TX instead, and the gravel pit remains better than ever - by which I mean chaotic police scene every time I pass it.
2. RTD had an RFP for the 38th and Blake park and ride lot two years ago. How could they possibly bungle TOD on such a great site? Easy - someone grossly overpaid for the Pepsi facility across the street, and RTD wanted the same deal or even better for their site. The minimum offer for the site was $40 million for around 1 acre! Buzz Geller isn't even that high. On top of that, the proposals had to be for affordable housing. Lastly, their RFP coincided with the fastest Federal Reserve prime rate rising cycle in American history, further eroding the value the market would bear for the site.
RTD does a lot of things right. They have really good staff leadership around this issue, and they are right to prioritize affordable housing. However, they have bottom of the barrel political leadership, their Exec Director is a nightmare (hired by the Board to bring Oakland, CA problems here) and they are collectively expecting land disposition deals to be the silver bullet they need to plug their operating budget.
Until RTD adopts a policy of simply requiring fair market value, taking into account all of their restrictions and baggage, nothing is going to happen. On the bright side, really amazing growth is happening on privately-held sites all around their station nodes. It's just ironic that the traffic generated by TOD a block over will have to walk through RTD's crappy parking lots, instead of appropriately designed transitscapes or otherwise appropriate urban infill.
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