Downtown parking rates moved higher in the first half of the year, according to an inventory conducted by Walker Parking Consultants for the Downtown Denver Partnership Inc.
The average hourly rate at Denver parking lots and garages rose from $2.93 in January to $3.24 in June, a 10.6 percent increase.
The average daily maximum rates rose from $7.48 to $7.92, a 5.8 percent increase.
Monthly rates, by contrast, remained flat over the period. The average monthly rent for a parking stall was $121.16 in June, down from $121.24 in January.
National medians were $15.16 for daily spots and $154 for monthly spots, with Midtown Manhattan the highest at $574.12 a month. The national medians were compiled by Colliers International, a national real estate corporation that specializes in commercial space.
Greenwood Village-based Walker inventoried Denver parking spaces in the area bounded by Speer Boulevard, Union Station, Park Avenue and Broadway/Grant Street starting in December and again in June.
The surveys are designed, in part, to dispel perceptions that parking downtown is scarce or that it costs an arm and a leg.
“It educates consumers and allows them to find a parking lot that is convenient and within their price range,” said Aylene Quale, transportation and special-projects manager with the partnership.
Parking rates can change from day to day, even from hour to hour, depending on demand, said Jeremiah Simpson, a parking consultant with Walker.
“The downtown parking supply is dynamic and it changes. The rates are just a snapshot,” he said.
Several more surveys over time may be necessary to confirm trends, but some patterns emerged during this six-month period.
Parking in the Golden Triangle, for example, appears to be commanding a premium. The area south and west of Civic Center saw the biggest price hikes of any downtown area in the first half of the year.
The median daily rate on surface lots in the Golden Triangle rose from $3.92 in January to $5.94 in June, a 51.5 percent jump.
“The Golden Triangle needs more parking and longer meter times,” said Megan Johnson-Maldonado, a manager at Le Central restaurant.
She said patrons must leave their tables to plug one-hour meters outside the restaurant. Those who use a neighboring lot aren’t happy about paying $5 to eat at the restaurant, which bills itself as providing affordable French food.
But not all parking prices are rising. Median daily garage rates were down in Lower Downtown, the Golden Triangle and the central business district. Monthly lot rates also fell in LoDo and the city center.
The partnership estimates that 110,000 workers are located downtown. Of that number, 45 percent use alternative methods of transportation, such as the bus, light rail, carpooling, biking or walking.
That would leave about 60,500 workers who drive a car and 43,729 parking spots, as counted in the June inventory.
Many of those workers may park at meters along the street or in lots owned or leased by their employers. Those spots aren’t included in the survey. Neither are lots east of Grant Street.
The survey information is available at www.downtowndenver.com with an update using the June data scheduled for later this month, Quale said.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-820-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
