You could blame the pandemic for the spate of empty parking spots encircling retail buildings, office buildings, and customer-facing special purpose properties. But, in truth, the issue dates back far before anyone knew what COVID-19 was.
You can trace the root of the problem back to around the 1950s when well-intentioned cities enacted “minimum parking requirements” to deal with an influx of automobile owners in urban centers. The requirements mandated developers to build parking structures with any new development – residential or commercial. As vehicle ownership waned in subsequent decades, many cities kept their minimum parking requirements. The result: outsized supply, not enough demand.
The pandemic is just the cherry on top. But let’s not dwell too deeply on the reasons for empty parking spaces. Instead, let’s do what any enterprising investor does well: brainstorm solutions.
Here are a few ways to turn your empty parking spaces into formidable revenue generators.
Modern Parking Solutions
Why re-invent the wheel when you could perfect it instead? In most cases, as a CRE owner, the best thing that you can do for your parking real estate is to make modernizing improvements.
But you don’t need to go it alone. Rather than shoulder the financial and operational burden yourself, consider outsourcing your lot to a parking management company. An expert parking management company can improve a lot in just about every way: they can determine the best solutions for your location, leverage cloud-based equipment, and customer-attracting mobile apps, and handle all the daily operational aspects of the facility.
It’s a turnkey way to fill your lot with vehicles and boost your net operating income – from a passive position that allows you to focus on the brick-and-mortar income.
Storage and Warehousing
There’s a lot you can do with empty parking spaces beyond parking. If you’re willing to think outside the box, you can embrace alternate-use, non-parking applications.
It helps to think of your parking lot as general open real estate; there’s no rule saying it only has to accommodate cars. And what kinds of businesses require large parcels of open real estate? E-commerce businesses.
Consider partnering with a parking lot network that can host warehousing, micro-fulfillment centers, and logistics hubs from your parking lot.
Food Applications
Another non-parking application to consider is virtual restaurants – increasingly popular restaurant concepts that make food for online delivery. Virtual restaurants need kitchen real estate, which they can establish empty outdoor parking spots. (You can think of them like food trucks parked in your lot, which only make food for delivery apps).
The presence of modular, flexible food applications won’t detract from your core business. On the contrary, it may actually enhance your core business – as you can market on-premise food options to prospective tenants.
Fairs and Festivals
Finally, you can consider hosting fairs and festivals in your empty parking real estate to generate seasonal income. Research local organizations that run annual (or regular) outdoor events to see if their venue budgets match your income expectations.
There are several ways to generate income from an empty parking lot. The only thing you shouldn’t do is let it sit idly. Modernize your parking solutions, embrace alternative uses for your parking real estate, or rent it out as a venue for local events.
