Downtown parking rates among lowest

Despite a rise in parking fees across the nation in the past four years, rates in Reno's few commercial parking garages remain among the lowest in the country.

However, some downtown real estate experts expect rates to increase as more new office, residential and retail space opens in Reno's central business district.

The annual study of parking rates nationwide completed by Colliers International shows that Reno's median monthly rate of $45 is higher only than Phoenix, where rates run $35 a month, and is tied with Bakersfield for the second-lowest in the country.

Reno's low parking fees largely reflect supply and demand, says Chris Nelson, managing principal of Capstone Partners LLC, co-owner of the Museum Tower on West Liberty Street.

"We recently increased our parking rates due to higher demand, but our rates are still very low compared to other West Coast central business district office markets," Nelson says. "As more office tenants and visitors to non-casinos come downtown, the rates will increase. I think we will start to see a slow increase over the next several years since downtown Reno's office, retail and residential markets are becoming more desirable."

Monthly covered parking at Museum Tower is $55 for unreserved spaces, while outside parking costs $45. Rates increased $10 on May 1. Public parking was raised to $2 for the first half hour and $5 per hour with a $30 daily maximum.

Nelson says the high cost of urban construction outweighs the revenue generated from parking spaces and creates one of the primary challenges in developing new office space.

The Reno Redevelopment Agency owns the parking garage at Sierra and First streets, the main parking place for moviegoers heading to the Century Riverside 12 and other businesses in the neighborhood.

City spokesman Chris Good says the theater accounts for 14,000 to 15,000 validations per month. All that parking doesn't come cheap for Century Riverside, which pays the redevelopment agency $275,000 annually for customer parking.

Tenants housed with the parking structure, such as Silver Peak Restaurant and Brewery and the Downtown Market Place, have allowances in their leases for a set number of validations each month and must pay the redevelopment agency for any overages, Good says.

The redevelopment agency established its fee structure by comparing rates of other parking garages in the area and last raised rates in July 2004.

"The difficulty is that there are few truly comparable parking garages because most parking is free at the casinos," Good says.

But that abundant free parking also may help keep the downtown area vibrant.

"Reasonable parking rates make it easier for residents and visitors to participate in the downtown experience," says Good.

Midtown Manhattan's median monthly rate of $630 for parking was highest among the markets surveyed by Colliers International.