When and How Much Should My Community Charge for Parking

“How much to charge for a parking space” is a common concern we hear on a frequent basis. A lot of communities, specifically in the multifamily industry, struggle with knowing how much and when to charge for parking due to the concern of negative response or backlash from residents. It is an unfortunate reality, that offering free parking at a community such as an apartment complex or shared condo parking lot can lead to numerous issues and even place a higher long-term cost on the local community itself. Overcrowded lots result in unhappy residents that spend additional time searching for parking; which is just one issue that can arise when there is no cost tied to parking a vehicle onsite.
Parking Lot Supply and Demand
Considering if a multifamily community or apartment complex has fewer spaces than it has units or is above the average of 1.88 vehicles owned per household (according to the U.S. Department of Transportation), the demand outweighs the supply causing a parking deficit. This results in parking problems such as residents wanting to park their vehicle close to their own home only to find out the space has been taken by a neighbor’s guest who has been occupying the space for far too long. This can be managed effectively by pricing out permits based on the deficit.

Every city has building codes which allocate a specific number of parking spaces per unit, however depending on the data that was used at the time of construction, this may……