Start Preparing Today for Autonomous Driving

LOS ANGELES—Developers are already asking for parking exemptions with the advent of new driving apps and public transit. According to O'Malley Miller, who recently joined Allen Matkins as a partner, he is working with his clients building in the densest parks of the city, and it is working. To find more about what developers can do to curb parking requirements for new construction.

GlobeSt.com: How are developers already planning for a world with driverless cars?

O'Malley Miller: Developers of multifamily housing, who I represent and who are building housing in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other dense urban environments, have always been required to build a certain number of parking spaces per bedroom. Now, developers don't want to build that many parking spaces because tenants do not want to rent them. A couple that has a two-bedroom apartment does not need 2.5 or even 1.5 parking spaces, and they may not even own a car. They use ride sharing to get around. Forget about autonomous cars. We already have autonomous cars, they just happen to have a driver in them. They are called Lift and Uber. Developers are pushing back against the municipalities. They don't want to put in hundreds of parking spaces because of a requirement in an outdated zoning code, and they are asking for parking variances as a result.

GlobeSt.com: Are there any examples in Downtown Los Angeles?

Miller: The Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles—a very hip hotel—has zero parking spaces onsite. The bar and hotel is packed all of the time. People come by Uber or Lift, or they park in a nearby lot and walk. It is an old office building that was built in the early 1900s when L.A. had the most advanced public transit system in the world. Why should an adaptive reuse not be required to have parking when new ground-up construction is required to have tons of spaces? The answer is that you shouldn't.

GlobeSt.com: How have municipalities responded?

Miller: Municipalities by and large get their revenue from sales tax and transit occupancy taxes. Property taxes go to the county. So, developers have been saying, 'you can give me a zoning variance and I can build this hotel, or you are going to be stuck with a surface parking lot.' The city is going to be getting a lot of sales tax from the bars and restaurants and lots of bedroom taxes from the hotel itself. The municipality is highly incentivized to not require parking that is not going to be used. The city is coming to its senses and realizing that in the densest parts of the city, you don't need to have all of this parking. If you really want additional parking, the city should float a Mello-Roos bond and buy an existing parking lot to provide parking at a cheap price. Pasadena did the same in old town.

GlobeSt.com: Have you been able to secure an exemption on behalf of your client?

Miller: Yes, we have a ground breaking one that is on the verge of getting approved, but I believe that it will be because the city has a choice: a hip new hotel or a parking lot.

LOS ANGELES—Developers are already asking for parking exemptions with the advent of new driving apps and public transit. According to O'Malley Miller, who recently joined Allen Matkins as a partner, he is working with his clients building in the densest parks of the city, and it is working. To find more about what developers can do to curb parking requirements for new construction.

GlobeSt.com: How are developers already planning for a world with driverless cars?

O'Malley Miller: Developers of multifamily housing, who I represent and who are building housing in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other dense urban environments, have always been required to build a certain number of parking spaces per bedroom. Now, developers don't want to build that many parking spaces because tenants do not want to rent them. A couple that has a two-bedroom apartment does not need 2.5 or even 1.5 parking spaces, and they may not even own a car. They use ride sharing to get around. Forget about autonomous cars. We already have autonomous cars, they just happen to have a driver in them. They are called Lift and Uber. Developers are pushing back against the municipalities. They don't want to put in hundreds of parking spaces because of a requirement in an outdated zoning code, and they are asking for parking variances as a result.

GlobeSt.com: Are there any examples in Downtown Los Angeles?

Miller: The Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles—a very hip hotel—has zero parking spaces onsite. The bar and hotel is packed all of the time. People come by Uber or Lift, or they park in a nearby lot and walk. It is an old office building that was built in the early 1900s when L.A. had the most advanced public transit system in the world. Why should an adaptive reuse not be required to have parking when new ground-up construction is required to have tons of spaces? The answer is that you shouldn't.

GlobeSt.com: How have municipalities responded?

Miller: Municipalities by and large get their revenue from sales tax and transit occupancy taxes. Property taxes go to the county. So, developers have been saying, 'you can give me a zoning variance and I can build this hotel, or you are going to be stuck with a surface parking lot.' The city is going to be getting a lot of sales tax from the bars and restaurants and lots of bedroom taxes from the hotel itself. The municipality is highly incentivized to not require parking that is not going to be used. The city is coming to its senses and realizing that in the densest parts of the city, you don't need to have all of this parking. If you really want additional parking, the city should float a Mello-Roos bond and buy an existing parking lot to provide parking at a cheap price. Pasadena did the same in old town.

GlobeSt.com: Have you been able to secure an exemption on behalf of your client?

Miller: Yes, we have a ground breaking one that is on the verge of getting approved, but I believe that it will be because the city has a choice: a hip new hotel or a parking lot.