Denver condo and loft questions… What is the value of a parking space?

SPIRE, Glass House, the Four Seasons, ONE Lincoln… these high rise residential Denver condo buildings each have a very valuable component that is often overlooked… parking.

Parking spaces are going up in value in Denver. Some buildings have the parking spaces included. Others, like Glass House, originally offered parking spaces for $40,000. In Glass House each residence was originally sold with one parking space automatically included. New buyers then got a chance to add in a second space for up to $40,000 but only for those buyers who were purchasing a two bedroom. There were fewer second spaces available than there were two bedroom residences so some of the 2 bedrooms in Glass House have two parking spaces and some have one. In today’s resale market that can mean a swing in market value of 10% or more. It also means many buyers out there looking for a great two bedroom and some additional square footage for a lower price may find these residences the perfect fit. That is if you only need one parking space for your Denver condo or Denver loft.

SPIRE took the parking option one step further. SPIRE residences are priced initially with no parking space at all. Buyer at SPIRE can then choose to add on a parking space or two, but they don’t need to. And the parking spaces are priced differently based upon what floor you are on. Those who pick the least desirable parking spaces (those on the top floors where you have to loop and loop around and those farthest from the elevators) were priced the lowest while a premium parking space on the lowest floors next to the elevators might be more than $50,000.

With SPIRE reporting more than 200 residences sold that means many of the parking spaces have been sold as well. Can you guess which parking spaces would sell quickest… if you guessed the least expensive ones you would be correct. So as parking spaces begin to approach $30, $40 or even $50K buyers have to ask… can living Downtown occur without a car?

SPIRE is working to make the answer to that question “Yes”. With Connect By Hertz in the building, light rail next door, B-cycle across the street, and the 16th street mall just a block away they certainly make it a possibility. But the question we ask our clients in addition to whether they can live without parking is to also think about resales down the road. Once a building sells out of parking spaces the only way to add one would be if an owner sold it… and that doesn’t seem to happen often based upon activity at Glass House.

Will Denver grow into a less car dependent city like Manhattan… you can answer that. In the meantime maybe it’s worth it to add in one parking space just to be safe for future resales or rental opportunities.