Every code-required space a project does not need costs roughly $29,000 to $99,000 to build aboveground, land excluded (UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies), and returns nothing. That is the binding constraint on mixed-use development: the parking the code demands can quietly sink the pro forma before the first lease signs.
$29,000 to $99,000
Cost per structured space
10 to 30%
Parking requirement reduction from unbundling
$35M+
Identified for clients
01
The situation
The math favors sharing. Offices peak by day, residential and dining by night, so the combined peak of a mixed-use program sits below the sum of the individual peaks (Urban Land Institute, Shared Parking, 3rd edition). Unbundling parking from rent typically reduces parking requirements 10 to 30 percent (Litman, Victoria Transport Policy Institute). The friction is institutional: lenders and appraisers often lag reform and still expect two spaces per unit, and planning staff approve reductions only when the counts behind them hold up.
The numbers
$29,000 to $99,000
Cost to build one aboveground structured parking space, before land, carried by every code-required space a project does not need.
SourceUCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, February 2026
10 to 30%
Typical reduction in parking requirements when parking is unbundled from rent.
SourceVictoria Transport Policy Institute
$35M+
Identified for clients firm-wide.
SourceJDE project records
Parking NOI at a Los Angeles retail and entertainment centerUS dollars, annual
Current525,000
Under JDE's phased plan961,000
SourceJDE project records
The garage averaged $1.65 per car across 39,380 monthly entries, with 90%+ of vehicles exiting free or validated.
02
What is at stake
The developer's problem is not proving that parking can be smaller in principle. It is proving this project's number, then holding it through entitlement, financing, and lease-up. Fewer stalls means lower cost and more revenue-producing square footage. A shared parking study built on local counts is the instrument, and the same document becomes the defense package for planning staff and lenders.
03
How JDE works mixed-use and development
Shared parking and parking demand studies. ULI methodology calibrated with local field counts, not model defaults.
Entitlement support. The ratio analysis, precedent set, and testimony that carry a reduction through staff review and hearing.
Right-sizing and unbundling strategy. Price parking separately, size the program to measured demand, and keep the reduction durable in operations.
Revenue and operations design for the built asset. Validation structure, transient positioning, and monthly programs that make the smaller garage earn.
Revenue-control audits in operation. Once the asset runs, verify that the dollars the plan promised actually arrive.
04
JDE results in mixed-use
JDE results in mixed-use, a downtown Los Angeles parking portfolio owner
A $600K reallocation upside on a single lot, and 7,743 missing tickets worth $92,916
Observation
JDE identified a $600K reallocation upside on a single lot and documented 7,743 missing tickets worth $92,916.
An analysis of how different uses draw on the same parking supply across hours, days, and seasons. It combines ULI shared-parking methodology with local field counts to establish the project's true combined peak. The output is a supported stall count and the documentation that carries it through entitlement.
How many parking spaces does a mixed-use project actually need?
Fewer than the sum of the single-use code ratios, and the precise number is project-specific. Offsetting peaks reduce the combined requirement, unbundling reduces it further, and a demand study with local counts replaces the default ratio with a defensible one.
What is unbundled parking?
Parking priced and leased separately from the residential or commercial space rather than baked into rent. Tenants who do not need a space stop paying for one, parking requirements typically fall 10 to 30 percent per Victoria Transport Policy Institute guidance, and the project needs fewer stalls at $29,000 to $99,000 each.
Prove the number before it is poured
Bring the site plan and the code requirement. JDE will tell you the number the data supports and stand behind it through entitlement and financing review. Contact JDE.
Sources
Schwartz, Ellen, "No Such Thing as Free Parking: Construction Costs in 17 U.S. Cities," UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, February 2026, DOI 10.17610/T62G75: aboveground structured parking averaged about $52,000 per space across 17 U.S. cities, ranging from about $29,000 (Phoenix and Washington DC) to about $99,000 (Portland), land excluded. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9f88x32n
Smith, Mary S., "Shared Parking," Third Edition, Urban Land Institute, 2020, published in collaboration with the National Parking Association (NPA) and the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), ISBN 9780874204278: combined mixed-use peaks fall below the sum of individual single-use peaks. https://americas.uli.org/200226sharedparking/
Litman, Todd, "Parking Management: Strategies, Evaluation and Planning," Victoria Transport Policy Institute: unbundling is listed with a typical 10 to 30 percent reduction in parking requirements. VTPI's narrative text puts the reduction in vehicle ownership and parking demand at 10 to 20 percent, and the 10 to 30 percent band is a planning rule of thumb VTPI applies to several strategies rather than a measurement specific to unbundling. https://www.vtpi.org/park_man.pdf
JDE results on this page are JDE work, documented in JDE project records, and are not blended with the third-party statistics above.