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Ridgewood Hudson Street Parking Garage , Where do we go from here ?

Hudson garage

March 10 2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Councilmen Ramon Hache gets us up to date on the Hudson garage. Hache says that , ” In addition to the interviews with developers for the Hudson Street Parking Garage on February 21, the Village Council reviewed and discussed the results of the Walker Feasibility Study at the Public Work Session on Wednesday, February 28.”

Walker Consultants were hired to perform a feasibility study which includes both the financial analysis and the parking allocation plan for the Hudson Street Garage. The study provides a planning-level analysis of net operating income potential for the parking system when the new garage is complete, including rate adjustments that will help maintain a parking utility that is self-supporting.

According to the councilmen , “Walker makes several assumptions, including a cost of $12 million and financing at 3%. At this time, even before negotiating, we are already seeing several viable options in the range of approximately $9.5 million to $11 million. Also, given our AAA credit rating, we should be able to finance at a rate lower than 3%.”

These are the highlights of Walker’s recommendations to pay for the garage:

Increase hourly meter rates from currently $0.50 to $0.75 in the second half of 2018; increase to $1.25 in 2020; increase to $1.50 in 2025.
Extend meter hours from currently 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Allocate 60% of the garage spaces to commuters and employees (monthly) and 40% to shoppers and diners (hourly).

Then the councilmen went on to discuss financing options, “I think we should explore short-term (3 years) interest-only financing in order to allow us to build a substantial cushion before bonding for 25 years. It would also help us smooth out future parking meter rate increases. I also suggest we allocate 75% (top three floors) to monthly passes and 25% (the first floor) to shoppers and diners. This will ensure that by early January each year, we would have locked in at least 75% of the projected garage revenue.”

Hache says, “The Hudson Garage would be part of the Parking Utility, which means it would be funded directly by revenues received through meter rates. That is why the Walker Feasibility Study only contemplates rate adjustments and extended meter hours, and not special assessments or tax increases.”

Hache concludes , “The Village Council will now begin negotiations with the garage developers with the goal of selecting a final proposal that balances the best fit, value, functionality, and design. Designating the existing Hudson Street lot as an area in need of redevelopment in 2017, has allowed us the opportunity to negotiate directly with the construction companies, instead of simply accepting or rejecting the bids. One company already reduced their original bid by over $1.37 million.”

20 thoughts on “Ridgewood Hudson Street Parking Garage , Where do we go from here ?

  1. Hache is doing a hatchet job on the village; he is destroying Ridgewood. What a dope; expecting us to pay $1.25 an hour to park in CBD and extending meter rates. And the cost of the parking garage , which is not needed, a couple of decks on both ends of town would be fine. Maintaining a garage; the necessary police presence. Is Hache nuts or is he a crook. He does not care about beloved charming Ridgewood. In effect he is a thug.

  2. continued from above. OH I GET IT. He is trying to scare us out of town with the cost of the garage and high meter rates. WHY? Because he wants to sell our houses for us; be our real estate agent. Ha Ha NEVER RAMON. NEVER. Did ya ever notice how friendly Ramon is if you bump into him in town. He wants to be hour real estate agent. He’s a slime.

  3. All our studies show we have more parking than we use. Why ask for more when we don’t use what we have? The garage revenue only covers ~25% of the annual cost of the garage. In the most crowded and broken intersections of the village, this council wants to add ~390 more trips each day. This council wants to triple meter rates and take a million more dollars every year from taxpayers who park on streets to subsidize the commuter garage. This council wants to fly in the face of experts who caution that self-driving cars will make garages like this obsolete. This council knows the garage funding plan will be opposed by the business they are trying help. Why is this council ignoring facts and reality? Transparency builds trust, this council Gerrymanders studies and ignores facts without answering why.

  4. What about the loss to the general village fund of the revenue from the meters? What about the fact that nobody will ever want to come here again when they can go to any of a dozen surrounding towns and park for free? What about maintenance and safety costs? What about the hideousness and uselessness of it all? Who is getting paid by whom? I deeply resent the prospect of holding the bag for this white elephant.

  5. 11:11, after Ramon joined the VC, he became a realtor and has been on a bigger ego trip. Another empty suit, but to be fair, he dresses well for photo ops

  6. Heres Gps right to where we need to Go on building a raised garage boondoggle on TAXPAYERS BACKS …we go to NO

    Hows that ..we need to vote this crew out Full stop

  7. Anyone who wants to float rates for 3 years in order to smooth rate increases is just full of shit.
    You hire a “professional” to do a study, then you tweak the part of the study you don’t like you are a smooth talking politician.
    I love the way he threw in the phrase “parking system”.
    Folks that means you need to increase revenue from everywhere else to try and fill in the giant financial hole from the parking garage.

    4 years from now they will refinance at higher rates, slam through the rate increases, but the deck will be built, my name will be on it, but I’ll be out of office.

  8. P.S. Didn’t Walker know you have a AAA credit rating when it estimated 3%?
    If they did why change it.
    If they didn’t then they are stupid.

  9. “I think we should explore short-term (3 years) interest-only financing in order to allow us to build a substantial cushion before bonding for 25 years.”

    Seriously Councilman Hache? You must think we’re all a bunch of country bumpkins having recently arrived into Ridgewood on a Greyhound bus.

    THE REAL DEAL:

    You don’t want to bond now because you don’t want to take the chance of a bond approval by Council members being overturned by a voters’ referendum.

    And, you want to want to wait 3 years before bonding because the 2020 municipal election, in which you plan to stand for re-election, will be over by then.

    Please don’t continue to think that we’re all a bunch of dopes Mr. Hache. Okay?

  10. Leave Ridgewood the way it is
    big buildings aren’t needed !!
    Especially a Parking Garage
    Save the $ for something else

  11. Well it’s 8 o’clock on a Saturday night and there is no parking anywhere in the CBD. Every restaurant is packed.

  12. 8:06. let the restaurants pool their tips and pay for this boondoggle,We could care less if our dining businesses
    miss their beloved dreams of a second seating revenue on Friday and Saturdays during peak.STOP THE NEIGHBORHOOD RECKING Garage,voters just say NO.let private industry figure out people uber everywhere especially while planning to drink,

  13. 8:06 PM. Are you kidding? I just got home from town at 8:30 and I purposely drove around to look. There are a jillion spots at Cottage. Why don’t you walk a block?

  14. So what 8:06 p.m. So what. Does that mean we have to eat shit in the cost, super high taxes, the ugliness and the high meter rates. You raise rates and I don’t shop in town. PERIOD. Ever.

    what about the rest of the week, plenty of parking. Everywhere is crowded on Saturday nite. so what. Restaurant parking lots on highways too. So what.

    Why doesn’t anyone tell the council what we are saying on this blog. I do but they ignore me. We have to line up at the mic at a council meeting.

  15. There was plenty of parking in the Cottage Place lot. I drove through it at about 7:30 PM and half the lot was empty.

  16. 8:06 your actual facts are irrelevant to emotional arguments. Just walk a little bit.

  17. The suggestion to line up at the mike is a good one. Many, many people have lined up and spoken about all the problems Ridgewood has and the lack of the present council having any interest in doing anything about them. Maybe if you bring a bullhorn? That won’t prevent the texting going on while someone talks. It won’t prevent the apparent blindness, severe hearing problems, and lack of awareness or interest in following what the speakers are saying instead of thinking about anything but. “Houston, we have a problem.” and it is the fact that we can’t get the councils minds’ out of space and bring them to the ground so that they can hear us!

  18. Remember when Candidate Hache said he wanted simple parking solutions that don’t cost taxpayers much money? Watch him say it: https://youtu.be/kUmRoMBZaFg?t=2m2s Now he’s partnering with Jeff Voigt pushing risky interest-only loans on a money-losing garage we don’t need. Remeber the last guy who promised one thing on parking as a candidate only to sing a very different tune in office?

  19. No I’m sorry folks I drove through the whole CBD and parking lots and I could not find any spots at 8 o’clock I parked at Kings lot and walked up to The main av, It was a nice walk I didn’t mind. I don’t know why we cannot have parking at the borough hall at night. And make it free that may be convenient.

  20. 2:07 you obviously missed the lot on cottage place do you even know where it is

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