Parking Investments

Airport parking is the most boring, most beautiful asset class in the portfolio. Demand never sleeps. A regional airport like Eagle County (EGE) or Jackson Hole (JAC) operates seven days a week, and the parking demand curve tracks departing-passenger volume almost perfectly — which is itself a function of macro travel demand, not local economic conditions. That structural decoupling is what makes airport parking the closest thing in real estate to a utility cash flow.

The revenue model has four layers. Daily transient parking is the baseline (typically $18–$35/day at off-airport lots). Weekly bookings add a 10–15% premium when pre-booked online. Monthly contract parking from airline crews and frequent business travelers locks in floor revenue. And ancillary services — EV charging, car wash, vehicle detailing, fuel-up-on-return — add $40–$120 in incremental revenue per stay at very high margin. We have seen Mountain West airport assets hit 70%+ gross operating margin once dynamic pricing and pre-booking are mature.

The exit story is land. Land near a growing regional airport appreciates faster than the cash flow alone would justify. Five-year holds on airport-adjacent parking assets in growing markets have produced 18–25% blended IRRs after combining operating returns with land appreciation. Risk concentration sits in airport traffic — but the diversification across departing destinations, business vs leisure, and seasonal patterns absorbs most single-route or single-airline shocks.

Stadium and arena parking is the inverse of airport parking. Where airports are 365-day baseline cash flow, event venues are concentrated revenue events. A typical NFL stadium runs ten regular-season home games, two preseason, occasional playoffs, and 20–60 non-football events depending on the venue. An NBA or NHL arena might run 80+ events. Concert venues are even more variable. The asset is dark for 80–85% of the year and brilliantly profitable for the other 15–20%.

Per-event yields are extraordinary. Premium parking near major-league venues runs $35–$120 per stall per event, with VIP/tailgate-friendly inventory hitting $200+ for marquee events. With dynamic pricing tied to opponent quality, weather, and pre-event demand signals, we have seen blended per-event revenue lift of 35–55% compared to flat-rate predecessors. Operating costs are concentrated on event days — staff, traffic management, post-event cleanup — which makes per-event operating margins of 50–65% standard at well-run lots.

The risk concentration is calendar risk. A stadium losing its anchor tenant or a venue cycling through bookings poorly can compress revenue meaningfully. We mitigate this by underwriting only assets with diversified event mixes (sports plus concerts plus civic events) and by securing multi-year operating agreements with venue owners that lock in our position before betting on the calendar.

Ski resort parking is the most concentrated, highest-yielding asset class we operate. From late November to mid-April, mountain town parking near major resorts sells for $20–$45 per day, with Saturday-of-a-powder-day pricing reaching $60+ at base-area lots. Reserved spots and EV-equipped premium spaces command another 30–50% premium. The demand curve is sharp: 90% of the year's revenue compresses into roughly 140 days of operation.

The summer story is what changes the underwriting. A decade ago, mountain assets went dark from May to October. Today, summer mountain biking, music festivals, gravel cycling events, and town special events at resorts like Vail, Park City, and Jackson have built a meaningful shoulder-season revenue line — often 15–25% of annual top line — at lower per-day rates but very high marginal contribution. That summer line is what shifts ski resort parking from a six-month seasonal asset into something that produces material 12-month yield.

Locals matter too. Mountain towns have permanent populations of service workers, local business owners, and second-home owners who need predictable monthly parking. We sell monthly permits at meaningful discount to nightly rates, capturing baseline cash flow that buffers against weak snow years. The blended structure — peak transient + summer events + monthly permit floor — produces 14–22% target IRRs on well-located mountain assets.

The multifamily asset class is fundamentally different from the other three. We are not acquiring parking assets — we are unlocking surplus parking already inside apartment communities, condo HOAs, and mixed-use buildings. The typical Class B/C apartment community in the Mountain West has 25–40% more parking stalls than its tenant base actually uses on a given night. That surplus is dead inventory until somebody monetizes it.

The monetization paths are multiple. External monthly permits to nearby downtown workers, restaurant employees, and event patrons turn surplus stalls into $80–$220/month per space depending on market. Reserved spot pricing for residents who want a guaranteed space adds another $30–$80/month per space at zero incremental cost. EV charger leasing — where we install chargers at our cost and split revenue — adds $300–$800 per port per month. Visitor permits via mobile pay capture revenue from previously free guest parking. Citation enforcement converts unauthorized usage from cost into revenue.

The owner economics are uniquely clean: zero capital expenditure, zero new construction, no entitlement risk, no environmental risk, and the property's appraised value rises in lockstep with the new NOI line we create. A 200-unit Class B community with $90,000/year in unlocked parking NOI typically sees $1.3M–$1.8M in valuation lift at prevailing cap rates. Investors who structure these deals as preferred-return participations on the new NOI line capture 10–15% target IRRs with no construction or lease-up risk.