close

September 2016

Parking spaces

Self-driving cars and the hunt for parking spaces

by Deena S. Hawkins on

The question of the day :

I understand the concept of how self-driving cars can find locations through addresses and GPS. But how do they know where to park once they arrive at their destination? If one is in an urban area, parking is usually off-site.

If it’s in a parking lot, how does the car know which garage to choose and which spaces are reserved? Even if the parking lot is next to the destination, how does the car know where to go, for example to the back of the building, because the parking lot does not have a separate address? What if it’s one of those lots that says parking only for certain tenants?

I’m a little fuzzy on all this self-driving car technology. It would, however, be semi-incredible to have one of those things. Scary perhaps, but semi-incredible nonetheless.

The whole thing, as I understand it, is that you tell the car where you want to go and then sit and wait to arrive.

Cars are already equipped with sensors and cameras that could do this stuff, so why can’t you tell it where to park?

And there will always be some kind of manual override that will allow the driver to drive if things get dicey.

We already have cars that can park so I don’t think that will be a big problem in the future.

How much does a hectare cost?

It is the same as 2,471 acres or 10,000 square meters. Ten thousand square meters is the same as… uh… you know… one hectare.

read more
Uncategorized

Stockdale targets parking structures with new joint venture

by Deena S. Hawkins on
Daniel Michaels is the Managing Director of Stockdale Capital Partners

LOS ANGELES-Stockdale Capital Partners formed a joint venture with the Grosvenor Group and As parking management, car park operator, to acquire car parks in the South-West. The joint venture will focus on revenue-generating parking garages in high-traffic submarkets as well as surface parking lots in markets where supply is limited.

We really tried to focus on niche strategies that were being overlooked and which we felt had more recession resistant demand. We focused on three areas: medical practice, age-restricted multifamily, and parking,” Daniel Michaels, managing director of Stockdale Capital Partners, tells GlobeSt.com. “We believe all three will outperform given where we are in the cycle today. Parking, in particular, is highly neglected, under brokerage and not owned by institutions. We believed there was a huge opportunity to find yield in this niche subset.

For the partnership, Stockdale partnered with Ace for their incredible industry knowledge. “Ace is the largest private parking company in the country, and there are really only two or three others that have the breadth and depth that they have,” Michaels says. “They have been around for several generations and we have a good working relationship with them. As we think about the possibility of buying parking lots, it’s obvious that a big part of that is understanding the parking operations themselves. We partnered with Ace to do this, and we think they have incredible knowledge. Grosvenor is a UK based family office business looking to gain exposure outside of the UK.

The joint venture will focus on the Southwest region, and Michaels says the target markets are quite diverse, from Northern California to Southern California to Arizona, Las Vegas and Houston. He estimates they will hold the assets for five to seven years, but each property’s business plan will vary. “Every asset is different, but some we can collect and create a wallet and some we can license for development,” he says. The joint venture plans to invest $100 million in these assets.

read more