The New York Times explores the Boardwalks of real-estate development:
… the surface lots that are peppered throughout cities, a vestige of a time decades ago when car ownership had surged and mass transit use had declined. Surface lots bloomed throughout the country, in big and small markets. Now, these lots are becoming more valuable.
“It’s like when you’re playing Monopoly, and you get your ticket for Boardwalk — that’s how rare it is,” said Gina Farruggio, a broker …
Sales of such lots in the U.S. have surged to more than 200 in 2016 – more than double the amount in 2006 through 2014. It’s something that’s been going in Metro Vancouver for several decades – and at a vastly different scale.
The Times profiles a major development in Los Angeles at Culver City along the Expo Line:
The 500,000-square-foot development (on 5.2 acres), called Ivy Station, is expected to open next year with 200 apartments as well as 240,000 square feet of office space, 55,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, plus a hotel.
Amazing Brentwood by comparison is on 28 acres: 1,300,000 square feet of retail, 500,000 square feet of office, and about 1,700 residential units.
Perhaps not comparable given the difference in area – except for one thing.
- At Ivy Station: 1,500 parking spaces.
- At Amazing Brentwood: 1,400.
If not for the hazy skyline, this photo could be Vancouver.
I find it funny that the NY Times seems to find 100 to 200 sales of downtown parking lots annually ACROSS THE US a big deal.
Looking at Vancouver, there have probably been dozens of sales of parking lots per year in this city alone.