Pittsburgh Parking System Long-Term Concession Agreement

The Carlyle Group, a private global investment firm, retained Walker to assist their team in preparing a qualified response to the City of Pittsburgh. The City issued a Request for Proposals (“RFP”) to assess the potential of entering into a long-term Public Private Partnership consisting of two fifty-year concession agreements to manage and operate the City’s on-street and off-street parking system.

The system, currently operated by the Pittsburgh Parking Authority, is comprised of 11 downtown structures (9,000 off-street spaces) as well as 1,800 metered spaces (33 lots) scattered throughout the City. In addition, the system also contains over 6,900 metered spaces that represent one of the largest on-street systems in the U.S. when compared to other cities.

The City needed to retire the pending debt associated with the State Pension Fund. To achieve their goal, the City wanted to raise approximately $300 million in capital without increasing other taxes.

Walker conducted due diligence, structural assessments and financial analyses to assess existing conditions and project the potential revenue associated with implementing enhanced technology and solutions to better operate and manage both the on-street and off-street systems.

Walker’s ability to identify the inherent low costs associated with installing and maintaining multi-space meters (on-street) as well as the high cash flow margins and synergies that exist in the Pittsburgh parking network, provided critical upside opportunities for Carlyle. We also quantified the benefits associated with implementing best practices in regard to enforcement practices, securitization and new technologies that evoke behavioral change and added revenue potential.

Walker provided a comprehensive analysis and a series of recommendations that were utilized by Carlyle to construct a bid package that was in-depth, all-inclusive and highly competitive.