Purchasing/Creating Parking Lot

[Morris Pearson]

I'm looking to purchase real estate so that I can build a parking lot on it. The cities I'm looking at include: Chicago, Boston, New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Dallas. (List of the highest parking rates across the US). I'm also looking into parking around airports, which I've got one response saying they don't have real estate for sale, but have private contractors take over closed shuttle locations or operations. I currently don't own any real estate but have $60,000 to put down, a credit score above 800, and $100k+ job. I think for financing for purchase and upgrades a commercial mortgage loan may be the best way to go. So far my search reveals that in major cities parking "lots" are near the million dollar range and parking "spots" run 30k to 100k. My thoughts are I may have to pick other cities that may have a lower parking rate, but more affordable real estate pricing. My search criteria include: 

-Only paid park options around it, or with limited to zero free parking options
-Located on or very close to a strip of shopping stores, bars, clubs, or restaurants
-Be located on a road with a high vehicle count per day
-Low crime neighborhood
-Doesn't have to be vacant land, but should be zoned appropriately for parking lot use

Currently I'm thinking my first step should be hooking up with local agents that can help me find leads in the cities I'm looking. I'm open to any additional advice, recommendation, and direction anybody has to offer. Thanks in advance!  

[Scott Wolf]

@Morris Pearson, while I think you have a good investment thesis, you're missing out on "highest and best use". Any piece of land in those cities will be more valuable as re-development for apartments/office/mixed-use.  So your numbers will most likely not pencil out to build a parking garage.  In NYC, garages are disappearing, as they are bought by developers.

That being said, speak with experts in your target markets, and perhaps you can prove me wrong!  I know of a functioning garage for sale for $6MM in Manhattan, if you have any interest.

[Scott Wolf]

@Morris Pearson, while I think you have a good investment thesis, you're missing out on "highest and best use". Any piece of land in those cities will be more valuable as re-development for apartments/office/mixed-use.  So your numbers will most likely not pencil out to build a parking garage.  In NYC, garages are disappearing, as they are bought by developers.

That being said, speak with experts in your target markets, and perhaps you can prove me wrong!  I know of a functioning garage for sale for $6MM in Manhattan, if you have any interest.

[Jingwen Ni]

I don't know the rate of return of garages compared to other types of properties, but garages seem to have lower cost for maintenance. Due to the pandemic, people are moving out of the big cities. Although no one knows what  postpandemic will look like, multifamily in big cities are hurting. From what I have researched, mix-use, self storage, and neighborhood convenience stores, on the other hand, are doing better. 

[Michael Bell]

Morris, I am marketing to parking owners throughout the country. The key for a parking investment to work is to avoid the 24 hours cities (pretty much every city you mentioned). And lean into your 12-18 hour cities, such as the one you live in Louisville. You can find deals in secondary and tertiary markets that pencil out and that are not as attractive to developers. These markets have high enough foot traffic in their central business districts and entertainment areas but also CAP rates that make sense.

I got about 6 months of work into this, but definitely open to sharing more with you.  Feel free to reach out. Good luck!