Creative Ways to Transform your Parking Lot
Ruth Goodwin
Since the start, parking asset owners and managers have solely been focused on optimizing car traffic levels to enhance lot valuations.
Whether it’s the Pandemic or just the start of a new line of thinking, parking lot owners and operators are beginning to evaluate means of transforming empty parking assets into creative spaces that can help the community, the environment and be profitable!
When thinking about how to utilize a parking lot creatively, owner/operators typically want to ensure that they have flexibility with their space. This means that although there are plenty of different ideas that would work, the ones that work best are the ones that offer flexibility to take back the parking spaces if they’re needed.
The question is… what creative uses are there for a parking lot that offer flexibility? Here are three examples of creative uses of space:
Community: Making your parking lot into a community hangout spot is an unbelievable way to give back to your community - turning it from a place where cars park to a place where your community can connect with one another. One way you can do this is by transforming your lot into an area for sports. For example, this Toronto company used this empty space and turned it into a Pickleball club.
Environmental: Another creative use of parking spaces is to create an area for greenspace. As cities grow rapidly, more and more urban planners are beginning to think about how to incorporate green spaces into their urban, concrete jungles. Greenspaces are essential. According to numerous studies, it helps reduce stress particularly in older people/children and is also linked to improved concentration and happiness!
Another way empty parking spaces can be used to help the environment (particularly for multi-level parking garages) would be to cover parking lots with solar panels. The energy produced could be used to power the parking facility or can be used as a clean energy source for the city!
For example, Michigan State University covered many of their parking lots with solar panels. By doing this, they are able to create clean energy, save on electricity costs over the long-term, and help the environment!
Commercial: At the end of the day, profitability is an important component of operating a parking lot/garage. However, renting out parking isn’t the only way to monetize a parking lot. A parking lot is a space, and space, especially in the city, comes at a premium.
So instead of using the parking lot to rent parking spaces, what if you were to offer local businesses an opportunity to use the space to sell their products? For example, you can rent your parking lot to create a farmers market or maybe a food truck fest, how about an art show? There are plenty of great ways to facilitate an event and use your space as a fun place of commerce for the community.
There are so many ways to recreate your space into something innovative. Whether that’s to foster greater community connections, help the environment, or even to increase profits - parking lots are so much more than just parking.
Author: Bram Silver is a Business Development Specialist at WhereiPark. He specializes in working with multifamily property owners to help them create a new stream of ancillary revenue via their underutilized parking assets. He’s worked with some of the nation’s largest multifamily companies such as Avalon Bay, Greystar, Essex, Equity Residential, Bozzutto, and more.