Viabilidad de un edificio de aparcamientos multiusos mediante una Alianza Público Privada en el Recinto Universitario de Mayagüez de la Universidad de Puerto Rico

Abstract

The World Bank indicated that inadequate infrastructure hinders local economic growth, competitiveness, and is a major cause for a deficient quality of life. For the past decade, the government of Puerto Rico has been dealing with a financial crisis that caused the insolvency of public accounts. This has prevented the proper maintenance of the existing infrastructure and the construction of new public works. This research studied the feasibility of a new multipurpose building being delivered as a Public-Private Partnership (P3) project at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez University Campus (RUM). The proposed project site was the main parking lot of the (RUM). It is a paved lot located within a floodplain. The new multipurpose building tried to solve several problems, including unmet demand for parking and flood problems suffered at the current site. The project proposal consisted of a multilevel parking lot, above ground, with approximately 940 additional spaces to the existing parking. In addition, the project included the construction of an underground reservoir to accumulate rainwater to mitigate the problem of flooding. A new 95,000 square foot commercial space was also planned as part of the new construction. Despite the obvious need, the decision making was difficult and can be controversial because private initiatives are traditionally rejected by the community. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to evaluate the method of infrastructure delivery that allows the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the project on the RUM. The investigation had several stages. During the first phase, students had the opportunity to express their preferences and concerns about the proposed project through a survey. A total of 1,114 students from all faculties and year of studies were surveyed. This helped to identify the current demand for parking spaces and other campus needs. Preliminary results showed that a large majority of students would support a P3 project on the RUM. In the same way, it is demonstrated that the project is necessary for the proper functioning of the RUM and that it can be viable and attractive for the private sector. The second phase of the project was the conceptual design of the parking lot using different guidelines. The last phase of the project was a cost analysis of the conceptual design proposed. Using the participation of the community, this project contributes to the body of knowledge by increasing the acquisition of information from the infrastructure.