Manhattan parking spot going for $225,000
Thursday July 12, 11:38 am ET
Parking spaces in New York cost as much as $225,000 and could soon be going higher still, putting the cost for the prime spots above the price tag of the typical U.S. home price.
Manhattan real estate agent Tom Postilio said there is a waiting list of seven or eight people hoping to pay $225,000 for one of five private parking spaces that has been approved in the basement of 246 West 17th Street, a 34-unit condo development scheduled for completion next January.
The developer of that building is seeking permission to add another four spots, and Postilio said the addition spots are likely to cost even more than the current price, although he could not give an exact price.
âSupply and demand being what it is, thereâs probably going to be an increase,â he told CNNMoney.com.
That latest figures from the National Association of Realtors put the nationâs median existing home price at $223,700 in May, meaning that half of the homes sold in the month sold for less than that and half sold for more. Overall, home prices nationwide have been declining in the face of a slump in home sales this year.
Part of the reason for the pricey spots in New York is city rules controlling new residential buildings in most of Manhattan that limit spots to about 20 percent of the units, according to The New York Times, which first reported the $225,000 price tag in an article Thursday.
That limit has resulted in some condo buyers paying roughly as much per square foot for their carâs home as for their own, according to the paper.
The paper says that property appraiser Miller Samuel estimates that the average parking space in the expensive neighborhoods of Manhattan now costs $165,019, or $1,100 per square foot. That compares to an average apartment price of $1,107 per square foot.
So this limo drives up to Chase Manhattan bank HQ and this gorgeous chick steps out, (bling, furs, etc.).
âI want to see the bank managerâ
âright away, Maâamâ
'What can I do for you?â Bank Mgr, says
âI want a $250,000 loanâ.
âOk, let me check your creditâ, which he does, she comes back clean, he says, â weâll need some token collateral for thatâŚwhat do you have?â
So she does that roll-eyes/sigh thing, plops down the keys to the limo.
Bnk. Mgr sends some guys to check it out, has them pull it around the back + park it, her driver gets a cab, + she walks out with $250,000.
A month later she comes in again with her driver ,asks to see the Mgr., plops down the $250,000 PLUS $25K interest and says âmy limo, pleaseâ + hands the keys to her driver.
The Bank mgr closes her account, sheâs on the way out, + he stops her" âMaâamâŚI know I shouldnt ask, but Iâm suspiciousâŚwhat just went on here? The bank dosent want to be a part of anythingâŚillegal.â
âSilly manâ, she says, "Where else in Manhattan can I park my limo for $25,000 a month?!?â
Considering that residential units in the condo are probably $2 million to $10 million, $225,000 for a parking space doesnât seem so ridiculous.
I remember an anecdote about a friend and her husband driving from North Carolina to visit relatives in Manhattan. They circled the block a couple of times and couldnât find any place to park. Finally, they pulled into a parking garage without thinking twice. In the morning, when it was time to pay for parking, the fee was as much as a hotel room. True story.
Where?!
Not in Baltimore!
Not in Annapolis!
In fact, one of the biggest impediments to my buying a house in Annapolis (downtown) has been that having even 1 parking space will add $200K to the price of the house. Many, many people rely on street parking, which can be spotty.
Buying a home that doesnât include a parking spot or garage seems nuts! Especially nuts are those people who purchase or rent parking spaces far from their homes so they have to take a bus or taxi to and from their car.
The expectation that parking space is automatically included seems to reflect certain unreal notions. Where I am, the houses are pretty old. Most do not have parking - never did. I guess it wasnât requirement a hundred and twenty years ago. In fact, most lots in town have only 25 to 30 feet frontage, so squeezing in parking space has a real effect on the size the house can be on the lot.
As has been said here, many homes only have on-street parking for vehicles. The city ordinances that pertain to on-street parking, no doubt, vary from city to city. For example, does the home owner have any special right to park in front of his/her house, given that it is a public street? If another vehicle is parked in âyourâ parking spot in front of your house, can you have the car towed if it is not moved within a specified time? How many unrelated people can live in a single house? Our city ordinance says that only four unrelated people can live in a house, but the landlord who owns the house next to us routinely rents to five college students. Five college-age females + guests = 8-10 cars parked in the driveway, blocking the sidewalk, and on the street. Is it worth while trying to do anything about it when the city ordinance is obviously not being enforced?
Yep. Iâve had to think about it. I love the historic district, and admire the houses often. But most of them were built 17th through 19th centuries, for working peopleâso only the really hefty, rich-people houses included space for the carriages. Everyone else walked. How does that translate into modern days? You come home from a hard day of work and circle several blocks several times until you can parallel squeeze into something. My friend who lives there will not leave her home on certain daysâNaval Academy Graduation weekend, the boat show, or almost any Friday night during tourist seasonâbecause sheâll lose her space.
Iâm considering, for the future, a short walk across the bridge to Eastportâa former watermanâs community where the cachet of historic has been slower to catch on. Those houses have more of a compact village feel, and most have at least a small driveway. Cannot imagine having 4 grown children popping in and out, and 2 family members with degenerative neuro conditions, dealing with the parking space run-around.
In some neighborhoods of Troy, NY, people have a quaint custom. The parking places in front of homes are not reserved, but residents will sometimes put chairs, traffic cones, etc. in those spaces when they leave(public streets, mind youâŚ) to âreserveâ the spaces. Back when I was a podiatrist and made house calls, I actually had people try to chase me away from those parking spaces. My little black doctorâs bag usually helped, especially when I told them that I would be there only for a short while. Funny custom though, and the police look the other way.
When there are so many hundreds of millions of people starving and dying from âsimpleâ diseases, we should be ashamed of ourselves as a society that weâve come to this.
They canât enforce it, because how do you define unrelated? Does your city (for example) say that a gay couple who have been together for 50 years but are legally unable to marry are unrelated, yet if she moved there Brittney Spears and her 24-hour first husband would be married? Thatâs probably the kind of situation your city doesnât want to touch. And if they start enforcing the law, theyâd have to eventually.
