NYC 'sweet spot' price for a parking space is $300K-$400K

So you checked out the Connecticut mansion and its 30-car underground parking garage, but aren’t ready to throw down $33.8 million for the 19 acres and the commute. What about spending one- or two-thirds of that for a condo in New York City and one (1) parking space? A CNBC story takes a look at automated parking spots in NYC, finding them to be the new hotness among amenities packages touted with new developments.

CNBC looked at two buildings, the first offering a fully robotic parking space for $300,000 for a standard ICE vehicle, or $350,00 for a PHEV or EV. The condo units these spaces are attached to go for seven or eight figures; the cost of the space is added to that as well as the $150-per-month maintenance fee.

Residents are given an RFID tag that calls on the automated pallet system to park and return the car. Retrieval from the garage takes a little more than two minutes, the car oriented so it’s ready to pull into the street. Said one buyer, “The car is turned for you by the robot. Who doesn’t live for a robot that sets you in the right direction in NYC?” So-called “high-value clients” also like not needing to deal with a valet or attendant, which could be another point of compromised security.

Machine-assisted parking isn’t new in NYC, with outdoor parking lots using machines to stack cars for close to 20 years. Robotic Parking opened a municipal garage in New Jersey in the early 2000s and had some teething problems, followed by Automotion opening a public garage in NYC and getting reviews that aren’t much better. Los Angeles has also been trying out fully automated public parking garages for a few years. The automated parking systems market is estimated to be worth nearly $4 billion globally by 2028. Going fully automatic in a residential building unlocks more parking spaces where space is even harder to find, since the garage doesn’t need space for humans to drive around and get in and out.

Another building in the CNBC piece, at 520 West 28th Street (pictured), charges at least $450,000 for an automated space, some spaces costing more than $595,000. This one uses an app to control parking and retrieval.

NYC’s long been noted for incredible prices for parking. One building sold a plain concrete parking spot for $750,000 last year, but don’t be put off. You can find plenty of monthly parking spots leased for $1,000 to $2,000 per month, and a city real estate consultant told CNBC that when it comes to purchasing a space, “I think $300,000 to $400,000 is the sweet spot for new development.”