The hidden parking spots nobody uses
It’s time to rethink parking space requirements for apartment buildings, new study finds
2 min
Australians are paying for $6 billion worth of parking spaces they don’t need, a new study has found.
Research from RMIT University found that 20 percent of households in apartment blocks were not using all the parking allocated to them, while 14 percent found their allocation inadequate.
Based on earlier estimates by Committee for Sydney that each parking spot has a value of $100,000, the team concluded that’s $6 billion worth of unused space.
The study conducted in collaboration with the University of Western Australia surveyed more than 1,300 apartment residents in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. Lead researcher Dr Chris De Gruyter from RMIT’s Centre for Urban Research said the study shows regulations mandating parking allowances according to apartment size needed review.
In Victoria, for example, every two-bedroom apartment must be allocated at least one parking spot while apartments with three or more bedrooms are required to have at least two parking spaces.
“We found in our study that people living in larger apartments tend to have an oversupply of parking because of this policy, which means they’re paying for a space they’re not using,” Dr De Gruyter said. “This oversupply is not just an inefficient use of space, it is exacerbating housing affordability issues.
“Meanwhile, apartment households with an undersupply of parking are forced to park on the street, competing with visitors in the area.”
Dr De Gruyter says the solution is to ‘unbundle’ parking spaces to give residents the flexibility to choose as little, or as much, parking space as they need.
“We can choose the number of bedrooms we want in our homes, yet we have no say in how much parking we need,” he said. “We want people to have the option to choose not to have parking instead of it being imposed on them. Similarly, those who wish to have additional parking can have this.”
Allowing residents to choose more or less parking space as required has flow-on effects, Dr De Gruyter said.
“Unbundled parking is going to help with housing affordability, reduce car use and on-street parking issues,” he said. “We’re also going to see better health for residents as there will be more physical activity due to more public transport use, and better air quality from less car use.”
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The penthouse unit at 80 Columbus Circle in Manhattan spans 8,000 square feet and once set a price record for the city.
2 minEight is definitely someone’s lucky number—especially when a few zeros are tacked on at the end.
The top-floor unit of the 80-storey 80 Columbus Circle in Manhattan is coming to market for the first time in more than 20 years and asking a nice round $80 million.
The full-floor unit spans over 8,000 square feet and is part of the Mandarin Oriental Residences above the hotel in the Deutsche Bank Center. It has eight rooms with eight ensuite baths, each with its own walk-in shower.
It last sold in 2005 for a hair under $30 million to cosmetics executive Sandie Tillotson, a founding member and senior vice president at the Utah-based Nu Skin Enterprises. She agreed to purchase the unit in 2001 while the complex was under development as the Time Warner Center.
Today, the six-bedroom apartment features spacious living areas and views from every room, including a close-up view of Central Park and panoramic 360-degree vistas stretching to the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, according to listing agent Eva J. Mohr of Sotheby’s International Realty.
“There are windows all the way around,” Mohr said. “The views are spectacular and there are no obstacles in front of the windows.
The apartment comes with a library and cinema, a primary bedroom with its own lounge, an oversized kitchen, a corner breakfast area with two glass walls and a utility room with caterer-level equipment and two sinks—one for prepping flowers and the other for bathing pets.
The 80th-floor unit has never been resold and was rarely used by the seller, according to information provided by the listing agency. The corresponding top-level unit in the complex’s second tower just sold. That unit once belonged to Related Companies boss Stephen Ross and sold for $50.7 million in an off-market deal last week.
“The one that went for $55 (sic) million was completely redone with marble and it was beautiful, but you don’t have the views,” Mohr said.
When Tillotson bought the property, the $30 million contract was a record price for a condominium, according to the New York Times. In 2005, the apartment was delivered as “8,200 square feet of raw space” and Tillotson brought her own team to do the interiors, the Times reported.
Tillotson’s Nu Skin is a seller of anti-ageing and wellness products that was founded in the 1980s and is active in more than 50 international markets, particularly in China. The publicly traded company has also recently expanded into India. Nu Skin has several thousand permanent employees at its Provo, Utah, headquarters as well as tens of thousands of salespeople worldwide.
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