Although Meredith Ginter lives on the sixth floor of a high-rise, she’s only steps from her parking space.
Ginter’s situation is the result of an uncommon parking arrangement at her Charlotte apartment community, the 310-unit Ashton South End. The building’s parking garage extends six-and-a-half stories high from the basement level and includes secured-access, double-glass-door entrances on each of the first six floors.
“I park right outside my floor,” says Ginter, 23, a law student. “Since I live by myself, my parents like the safety of the fact that I don’t have to go down to another floor to get my car. A lot of my friends that don’t live here are impressed because they have to park in front of their building or don’t have parking at all.”
The convenience is an attraction for prospective residents, says Samantha Barker, Property Manager of the 11-story community. “We talk about it as part of the tour,” she says. “We say, ‘If you have a handful of groceries or shopping bags, you’re only a few doors down from the entrance from where you park.’ ” A parking space is included in the rent for each bedroom in an apartment; reserved spaces (the two closest to the door) cost an additional $100 per month.
The design is actually a hybrid of two more common parking arrangements, says Bo Buchanan, Regional Partner for Houston-based real estate developer Hanover, which developed and manages the community. In a four-story wrap, a four- or five-level garage is completely wrapped with apartments, so the parking lot services the apartments from a core area. In a high-rise, parking is typically built underneath the living space of the building and is reached by elevator.
Building beneath livable space is more expensive, Buchanan says, so the hybrid parking structure, which is only partially underground, allowed the company to reduce building costs.
The distance of parking from the community entrance, as well as factors such as elevator wait time, are considerations when the company develops a new community, Buchanan says. “If we have enough land to do it, then we facilitate getting parking spaces as close to the front door as possible,” he says.
—NAA’s Jeffrey Lee