Drivers will be scrambling for spaces when one of Auckland’s biggest car park buildings is closed for good in 2026, agents have told OneRoof.
Almost 2000 car parks will disappear from the CBD as a result of Auckland Council's sale of the Downtown Car Park building to developers for $122 million.
The 6442sqm site has long been used by Aucklanders as a convenient spot to park the car when popping into the CBD for entertainment or work. The car park is expected to operate until at least 2026 when it is set to be replaced by two towers that will house office space and apartments.
But agents told OneRoof said the closure of the Downtown Car Park building would likely increase demand for private car parks in the CBD and push up prices.
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New Zealand Sotheby’s International Realty agent Pene Milne told OneRoof the closure would have big impact on Aucklanders with holiday homes on Waiheke Island. They could find themselves having to park a long way from the ferry and transport terminal, she said.
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The next closest car park to the ferry terminal after Downtown Car Park would be in the private car park building at 9 Commerce Street, where she has several spaces for sale.
The car parks in the building are on freehold unit titles and the only people who have access to them are those who either own them outright or lease them.
Milne said she could see the spaces appealing to buyers at the upper end of the market. “People who have nice cars don’t want to park them in a publicly accessed building that people get in and out of 24/7 randomly by just putting a ticket into a machine.”
The car parks are being sold at auction and while Milne could not give a price indication, recent sales have been above $150,000. The same car parks in the city would have sold for around $15,000 about 20 years ago, Milne said, highlighting the potential capital gain buyers could enjoy.
The car parks up for grabs at 9 Commerce street, in Auckland CBD. Photo / Supplied
An artist's impression of the towers set to replace the Downtown Car Park building. Photo / Supplied
Colliers special projects manager Roger Seavill, who has sold hundreds of car parks over the years, said the closure of the Downtown Car Park building would have a significant impact on Auckland’s parking landscape.
“It’s a huge chunk to be ripped out of the CBD," he said.
The next largest car park building in Auckland CBD was the Farmers Car Park building on Hobson Street, which had about 1350 spaces, all on individual titles.
Seavill said when interest rates were low and the market was booming car parks in the building were selling for around $90,000, but they were now trading for around $60,000.
“There are plenty that are bought and sold on the market and what they sell for and how popular they are depends on economic times, interest rates, and all the usual stuff,” he said, adding that spaces in the Farmers building usually fetched about $75 a week in rent.
He said CBD car parks were usually bought by apartment owners or office workers.
A one-bedroom apartment on Auckland's Queen Street is for sale with a car park on a separate title. It has an asking price of $535,000. Photo / Supplied
While many spaces in the CBD were on individual titles others were treated as auxiliary units and were either attached to an apartment or an office floor so to own the car park you had to own an apartment or office floor.
City Sales director Scott Dunn said parking in the CBD was becoming increasingly difficult, citing the city's move earlier this year to 24-hour paid parking. He felt that pressure in the market was only going to increase.
He said it was a complicated and expensive legal procedure to separate a car park from the title of the apartment they were associated with, although some owners did sublet them for around $70 a week.
Most freehold apartments with two bedrooms or more tended to be sold with a car park, Dunn said. About half of the one-bedroom apartments in the CBD also had them (City Sales is currently selling three such apartments at 606/22 Nelson Street, 414/27 Union Street and 2110/171 Queen Street). However, it was extremely rare for a studio apartment to come with one, Dunn said.
A freehold apartment with a car park was worth another $60,000 to $120,000 compared to one that didn’t. He said first-home buyers and professional couples would probably only buy an apartment in the CBD "if there is a car park there".
"So if you are going to be selling to someone who is an owner-occupier, then it will be very important to have a car park.”
However, a spokesperson for Eke Panuku Development Auckland, which is a council-controlled organisation tasked with buying, managing and selling property on behalf of Auckland Council, said there would still be plenty of parking and transport options for people when the car park eventually closed. The car park was not set to be "deconstructed" until 2026 at the earliest and the car park would operate as normal until then.
While the Downtown Car Park had 1944 total carparks including 1005 for public use, it had been only running at a 63% occupancy on an average weekday over the past twelve months and 60% at weekends. This indicated it was "under-used", the spokesperson said.
Figures provided to OneRoof by Eke Panuku showed there were about 4400 public car parks within a five-minute (500m) walk of the Downtown Carpark, and approximately 12,300 car parks with a seven-to-10-minute (750m) walk, which were a mix of short stay, long stay and leased.
The developer of the Downtown Car Park had also committed to providing 200 additional short-stay public car parks in the Commercial Bay precinct once the building closed to the public.
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