Catching up on an old report: TCRP 190

It's been a while since I've been on the blog, but a recent TCRP project proposal on joint development brought me back to my senses! In fact, I've been so busy working on a ton of value capture-related projects professionally that I have not had time to write about some great research that has come out in the last few years.

For one, TCRP's Report 190 covers a lot of great ground. Because there's nothing like a good story to help people understand complex topics, there are six interesting case studies in the report:

1. Boston Landing at Allston/Brighton Station, Boston, MA
2. Denver Union Station, Denver, CO
3. Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway Corporation (MTRC), Hong Kong
4. Kansas City Streetcar, Kansas City, MO
5. Portland Streetcar, Portland, OR
6. Dulles Metrorail, Washington, D.C., region

There are also some brief explanations of the usual suspects, including:

• Impact fees
• Joint development
• Land value taxation
• Negotiated exactions
• Parking fees
• Sale or leasing of air rights
• Sales tax and special assessment districts
• Station naming rights, and
• Tax increment financing (TIF).

The most interesting parts for me were discussions on creditworthiness and institutional capacity. Seriously, we should talk about these more! For example, my clients are often very excited about a value capture mechanism and how it will help fund their particular project, but hardly ever appreciate the broader organizational factors related to bond issuance.

On the other hand, my clients are often very aware of their institution's limited capacity to pull off value capture efforts in general (that's one reason to hire a consultant!). This report does a great job of illustrating the difficulties faced by agencies. I'm not sure if it was intentional, but this gnarly graphic is worth 1,000 words! Look at the confused relationships, overlaps, informal dotted lines, and dollars going everywhere!

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This report is a fun read for any value capture geek. Enjoy!