What Free Parking?

From FWWeekly.com:

Taft defended the parking program with the example of The Tower, the multi-million-dollar high-rise condo that was redeveloped in the old tornado-damaged Bank One building. That project wouldn’t have happened without public money, he said.

The TIF helped pay for asbestos removal during the renovation and now pays TLC Green, the building’s owner, $832,904 a year to lease about 400 parking spaces. The lease is in effect for 10 more years, guaranteeing TLC Green $9.8 million. Few people probably know that, however — there are no signs at The Tower advertising the free parking, though web sites run by Downtown Fort Worth Inc. do mention it.

The Tower “had some real problems and sat for a long time after the tornado” in 2000, Taft said. “There were many who thought it would be torn down. And the conversion of an office to condominiums was a very risky venture. But the investment we made through TIF money, in both asbestos removal and parking, made the development happen.

“Once it happened and succeeded, the downtown housing market really took off,” Taft said. “None of the new housing downtown would have happened as it did had The Tower not succeeded. The government agencies have seen their property tax revenue go up. So I would say it was a very good investment.”