A plum downtown parking space commands $107 a month. A less peachy one, less.
By SHARON L. BOND
Published May 25, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG - Nothing seems special about the parking lot at 500 Central Ave. It is paved. White lines mark off the spaces along with the concrete wheel stops. It holds SUVs, sedans and a couple of trucks.
It's not fancy.
But the 38 spaces go for $107 apiece per month. That is the highest monthly price of nearly 20 lots downtown that are open to the public, said Philip L. Oropesa, parking manager for the city of St. Petersburg. Some spaces that are leased with offices go for more.
Is $107 (tax included) too high? Apparently not. The waiting list for a space is months long. The market will bear the price for three simple reasons: location, location, location.
"I've got a lot on Eighth (Street) and First Avenue S. It's less than four blocks away and goes for $25 per month," Oropesa said. But that means several blocks of walking to get downtown. "South Core Garage is only three blocks away, and that is covered parking (for $64.20)."
Still, 500 Central Ave. prevails.
"It's what people are willing to pay for the sake of convenience," Oropesa said.
Vector Realty and Management Inc. owns the lot.
"We could probably charge double that," said Ken Heretick, Vector's president.
"We try to keep it reasonable. We watch what other buildings charge," Heretick said.
Vector's price rose to $107 several months ago from $85.60. The company also owns the former Florida Power Building and rents the 40 spaces in that lot at Fifth Street and First Avenue S for $85.60 apiece per month.
Heretick said workers in the Kress and Alexander buildings, just across the street, plus shop owners in the area, rent the spaces in the Central Avenue lot. Why do those folks pay $107 per month for a parking space?
"In the long term, to have a space every day when you come in, is in pretty high demand. All those midsize buildings don't have any" parking, Heretick said.
That is a niche lot, says Roger Donaldson, senior property manager for ANB Enterprises, which owns the Bank of America building and 380 spaces in the South Core Garage at 101 First Ave S. The Vector lot appeals to workers with money who want to park within a few feet of their offices.
"That's more consistent with what we see in downtown Tampa," Donaldson said of the $107. "I wouldn't call that market rate."
The South Core spaces that belong to Bank of America go for $69.55 per space per month and are reserved, Donaldson said.
The city of St. Petersburg has seven downtown lots. They range in price from $25 per month in lots away from the center of things to $64.20 for unreserved spots in the South Core Garage. Six of them are managed by Central Parking.
In addition to the rest of South Core Garage and the First Avenue S lot, the city owns these other parking facilities:
Mid Core Garage, 117 Second St. N, 1,380 spaces, 600 of which are reserved for monthly rental. The rate per space will be $64.20 as of June 1.
Al Lang Field (Progress Energy Park) lot, 230 First St. S, 357 spaces, $42.80 per month.
Central Parking lot, 333 Second St. S, 51 spaces, $25 per month.
Bayfront Center lot, 400 First St. S, 1,660 spaces, $25 per month with shuttle service.
Port of St. Petersburg, 250 Eighth Ave. SE, 35 spaces, $26.75 per month.
Garages are expensive to maintain and don't make any money, Oropesa said.
Only half of the 600 monthly spaces at the Mid Core Garage at 117 Second St. N are leased. The South Core Garage portion that belongs to Bank of America has about a quarter of its spaces unleased.
At McNulty Garage, 101 Second St. S, about 45 percent of the spaces are available. McNulty Garage has 720 spaces that go for $69.55 for reserved and $58.85 for nonreserved per month.
Florida International Museum has a garage at 218 Second Ave. N with 445 spaces, about 55 percent of which are contracted out, according to Alan Dick, director of security for the museum. Those spaces have three rates: $74.90 for street level, $53.50 for covered spots and $42.80 for rooftop parking.
Competition from nearby surface lots, such as the one at 25 Second St. N where the rate is more than $20 cheaper, cut into the monthly income of the Mid Core Garage, Oropesa said.
Another thing that crimps business is the ballet, as he calls it, that many workers play with the free two-hour spots around downtown. Rather than pay a monthly fee, they use the free spaces, moving every two hours to dodge the meter readers.
Meanwhile, the garage expenses continue.
"Just for Mid Core, it is $6,000 per month for the light bill. That's not including all the other maintenance," such as security, Oropesa said of the garage costs.
The lot on Second Street N that competes with Mid Core has 150 spaces that rent for $42.80 per month. It is one of four lots managed by Imperial Parking Inc. of Spring Hill. The lot has been targeted for development, but nothing is yet in sight for it.
"We've been in St. Petersburg since mid 1996," said Lorraine LiVecchi, vice president of Imperial. "We have a very strong clientele."
She said Imperial is looking at another lot at 235 Second St. N that would have about 37 spaces for $42.80 per month. Its other lots are at 358 Second Ave. S, 33 spaces; 145 Third Ave. NE, 258 spaces; and 316 First St. N, with 48 spaces. Those three are $42.80 per month per space.
Wachovia Bank, formerly First Union, has a garage and lot and leases spaces in both. Both have waiting lists and are fairly close to the Vector lot.
The Wachovia lot is at 400 Central Ave. and has 58 spaces that rent for $69.55 apiece per month. The garage has 107 spaces and a variety of rates depending on location in the garage. The most expensive is $74.20 for a reserved prime spot, according to a Central Parking spokesman.
First United Methodist Church leases out its 109 parking spaces at 212 Third St. N during the week. The current charge is $37.45 but will increase in July, said Rick Nay, building manager. He said the new charge has not yet been decided. All the spaces are leased, and often there is a waiting list of three to six people.
"We lease to the public and businesses," he said, adding that the income is not a big part of the church's budget. "It helps pay the maintenance of the parking lot and for the lights."
