How to Effectively Manage Multi-tenanted Parking Allocation

woman-overlooking-city-streets

What is Multi-Tenanted Parking?

Multi-tenanted parking is when multiple tenants, either commercial business or residential apartment owners, share the same parking facilities.

commercial-parking-underground
Underground commercial parking basement

Commercial

How it works

In a commercial setting, each tenant is assigned a certain number of parking spots and they are responsible for managing their own employees or customers’ vehicles and who is permitted to use each parking bay.

Benefits

In a commercial setting, multi-tenanted parking can be more efficient and cost-effective than each business having its own separate parking lot. It is also necessary where there are limited parking spaces available in a building, and also because parking is EXPENSIVE!

Residential

How it works

In a residential apartment building setting, most buildings have visitor parking areas. These are allocated specifically for visitors to the building, trades people who need to conduct maintenance work, and also for nominated disabled parking or EV charging bays.

Benefits

Visitor parking is essential for residential apartment buildings, and is usually required by Councils for building approval. It provides temporary parking for visitors, as well as wheelchair accessible parking, car washing bays and EV charging facilities. It can also create a sense of community among residents in the building.

EVs-charging-at-ev-charging-bays
EVs charging at shared EV charging bays

With the increase in mixed use commercial and residential buildings, it’s important to allocate parking between residents versus customers in the same parking area.

Challenges of Managing Multi-Tenanted Parking Allocation

Building and facilities managers spend a lot of time keeping track of who is using the parking spaces, and it’s a juggling act.  They need to provide parking for their tenants and commercial as well as residential visitors. This means they need to make sure that the spaces are used efficiently, and keep track of who is using the spaces. It’s very time consuming.

How can these parking challenges be addressed?

  • By using a parking management system that can allocate spaces based on demand, 
  • by using technology to help manage the spaces, and 
  • by communicating with tenants about how they can best use the available parking.
GET A FREE INSTALLATION QUOTE

3 Best Solutions To Manage Multi-Tenanted Parking Allocation

1. Monitoring and maintaining a parking system

Multi-tenanted parking allocation is a complex process. You need to carefully monitor and maintain in order to operate it smoothly. You need to conduct regular system checks to identify any potential issues that may arise, and to take corrective action if required. Building and facilities managers spend so much time managing this on a manual basis. Often it involves heated complaints from residents or visitors who can’t park their cars where unauthorised people have already parked – VERY STRESSFUL!

2. Managing parking permits and payments

Another way that some commercial businesses deal with this issue is to issue parking permits and require payments. They have a few different ways to go about it. The most common is to use a third-party provider, which can be either an online service or a physical kiosk. There are also some software solutions available that organisations can use to manage parking permits and payments internally.

underground-parking-for-multi-tenancy-building

3. Introducing a multi-tenant parking management system

A multi-tenant parking management system is a centralised platform that helps facilities managers, building managers and property managers efficiently manage multiple parking bays.

This type of system provides a web-based interface for users to view and update parking information in real-time, as well as generate reports on parking usage. It’s most suitable

for larger commercial buildings or residential apartment buildings with a much larger number ofapartments and visitor parking bays. To learn more about this, please visit our sister site, Parking Spotz.

How Parking Bollards can help to manage Multi-Tenanted Parking Allocation

Parking bollards are physical barriers that are installed in parking areas to help control traffic and protect vehicles and pedestrians. They can be made from a variety of materials, but predominantly steel, and sometimes concrete or plastic.

How they can help

Parking bollards can help to manage multi-tenanted parking allocation by providing a physical barrier between parking spaces. This can prevent vehicles from encroaching on other spaces, and also help to delineate the boundaries of each bay.

Bollards can also be used to create one-way traffic flow in a parking area, which can make it easier for drivers to find a space and exit the area.

Types of Parking Bollards for Multi-Tenanted Parking

Manual Folding Bollards

A manual folding bollard is a type of security bollard that stands erect to reserve a bay, and fold down to allow a vehicle in. You hop in and out of the car to lower and raise it so it’s manually operated. It is installed by drilling into the ground and attaching it to the concrete or bitumen base or other hard surface.

Manual parking bollards
Manual folding bollards at a muti-tenancy residential building

Features of Manual Folding Bollards

  • Folding manual bollards are typically made of steel, and can be locked with a padlock or key
  • They are easy to install with bolts or fixings into concrete or bitumen
  • They can be used in both commercial and residential settings
  • They usually have reflective markers for added night time visibility
  • Can be used indoors or outdoors as designed for all weather conditions

Advantages of Manual Folding Bollards:

The main advantage of manual folding bollards:

  • Heavy-duty manual folding bollards are very strong and durable
  • They can withstand a lot of impact from a car without being damaged as they lock into place
  • Surface mounted manual bollards can be installed easily and can later be removed if required.
  • Really simple to use, and can just be locked with either a key or padlock
  • Easily lowered by hand, allowing for easy access to an area that would otherwise be blocked off by fixed security bollards
  • Good for those working with a budget as they are less expensive than automated bollards.

Automatic bollards

Automatic bollards are designed to rise out of the ground or lower into it, depending on the needs of the situation. They are typically made out of steel or concrete and can be controlled automatically, for example by remote control or smartphone operation, or from an operator at a dashboard.

remote-control-parking-bollards-installed-outdoors
Remote control parking bollards to help share multi-tenanted commercial parking

Benefits of Remote Control Bollards:

  • They are easy to operate using a remote control
  • You don’t have to get out of the car to lower them or raise them up to protect the parking spot when you leave
  • Automated parking bollards run on rechargeable batteries so you don’t have to worry about charging them very often
  • They are great for convenience so you can control them by a remote control from your car
  • They are great for elderly or disabled persons who would have trouble operating a manual bollard
  • They can be used to create temporary or permanent barriers
  • They can be used to control traffic flow and direct vehicles
  • They can be used to protect pedestrians from vehicular traffic
  • They can secure specific parking spots for specific drivers
  • They can be used indoors or outdoors as they are weatherproof.

Smartphone Bollards

Smartphone bollards are the most convenient method of operating your parking bollard. By controlling the bollard with a smartphone app, you may protect and access your parking space. Your parking bollard will lay flat if you simply lower it using your smartphone app. Just using your smartphone app, you may raise your parking space when you’re done. This will prevent anyone from getting access to your parking area

Key Features of Smartphone Bollards:

  • allow users to share the parking space secured with a smartphone bollard with other users via an app 
  • Drivers can unlock the smartphone parking bollard using their phone simply by tapping the lower bollard button on their app.
  • This is a great option for companies that want to offer parking access to clients and customers. 
  • Ideal for visitor car parking, disabled parking or EV charging bays
  • Suitable for either indoors or outdoors

5 Tips to Manage Multi-Tenanted Parking Allocation

1. Establish a clear parking policy for your commercial or residential building or complex.

2. Assign specific parking areas for each tenant.

3. Implement a system to track and monitor parking usage.

4. Regularly communicate the parking policy and procedures to tenants.

5. Be prepared to adjust the parking allocation as needed based on feedback from tenants and changes in occupancy levels.

At thatsmyspot.com.au we’re all about listening to YOUR parking problems, and working out the best way to help solve your multi-tenanted parking allocation.

GET A FREE INSTALLATION QUOTE