Parkable tech revives unused parking spaces, generates millions in revenue

New technology is reportedly transforming fixed parking spaces in office buildings into flexible ones. The innovation by Parkable, the digital parking platform, could help Australian landlords generate millions in additional revenue, offering a promising solution to the decline in yields for commercial property, according to the company.

Several Australian owners and tenants of multi-tenant buildings, such as ISPT, XERO, and REA, have embraced Parkable's new tech offering. Toby Littin, CEO of Parkable, highlighted the common problem faced by owners and asset managers, saying, "In numerous conversations over the past two years with owners and asset managers, all of them reiterated the same issue, that it's a difficult time to satisfy tenant needs and maintain asset performance."

Observing higher than average vacancies in Melbourne's commercial listings, Littin pointed out the significant number of unused parking spaces and the considerable revenue they represent. He estimated, based on average parking revenue Parkable generates for its current customers, "that amounts to over $90 million in untapped revenue". Publicly accessible commercial property listing information combined with Parkable's financial models reveal similar scenarios of underutilised revenue potential, amounting to $77 million in Sydney and $75 million in Brisbane respectively.

Highlighting how property owners could maximise their assets' potential, Littin said, "By implementing our new multi-tenant platform, property owners can finally make parking a flexible resource that meets tenant needs, maximises the utilisation of parking spaces and adds new streams of parking revenue, typically achieving 1000% ROI."

Noting the relevance and applicability of their innovative solution, Parkable's CEO explained, "the challenges and opportunities presented with changes in commercial real estate are not limited to Australia - with operations in the USA, UK and Europe, Parkable sees this same condition prevalent around the world." He added, "We are seeing some of the world's largest real estate companies grapple with maintaining occupancy, yield and delivering world class tenant experience on a budget."

Parkable's world-first platform enables any unused parking space, including EV and visitor parking, to be shared with any tenant or the public. Property and asset managers can more effectively manage valuable parking assets and handle leasing and allocation decisions, thanks to reporting and management software that replaces manual records. Speaking about their multi-tenant platform, Littin asserts, "It's a win-win. If you've got a bunch of car parks being underutilised, Parkable can not only help improve the parking experience for tenants, we can also monetise the car parks and remove the need for unnecessary, time consuming administration."

He added that the Parkable platform, "can remove the pain points associated with managing those all-important parking spaces, and in turn help to increase productivity." Addressing the need to return to physical office spaces in the context of hybrid working arrangements, he said, "Parking has always been an emotional issue, and now that people are encouraged to spend more time back in the office, it's more top-of-mind for employers."