Residential and Multifamily Parking Consulting
An aboveground structured parking space costs roughly $29,000 to $99,000 to build, land excluded, per the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, and multifamily garages frequently run below one parked car per unit. Every required space a project does not need is baked into someone's rent for the life of the building.
The situation
Parking minimums are a housing cost. More than 100 U.S. cities have eliminated them entirely (Parking Reform Network, Parking Mandates Map, accessed July 2026). After Buffalo dropped its minimums, mixed-use developments built 53 percent fewer spaces than the old code required (Hess and Rehler, Journal of the American Planning Association, 2021). Denver eliminated minimums citywide in 2025. In Seattle, 868 residential developments in the five years after the 2012 reform built 40 percent fewer spaces than the old code required, an estimated $537 million in construction cost avoided and 144 acres freed (Gould, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2022). Unbundling parking from rent typically reduces parking requirements 10 to 30 percent (Litman, Victoria Transport Policy Institute). Transit-oriented reductions are available where the market supports them, and EV make-ready mandates ratchet up each code cycle (CALGreen in California).
Two independent studies of what gets built once the mandate no longer binds.
What is at stake
The parking ratio is a pro forma line with six zeros behind it. Build to the code default and the project carries dead stalls for fifty years. Under-build without evidence and lease-up suffers, the appraisal takes a hit, and the lender balks: many still expect two spaces per unit whatever the counts say. The number has to be proven with data, then defended to planning staff, lenders, and appraisers in their own terms.
How JDE works residential and multifamily
JDE builds the demand case from the field: occupancy counts at the site and at comparable properties, broken out by unit mix, hour, and transit context, producing a right-sized ratio with the evidence attached. Rate and demand strategy prices unbundled stalls, guest parking, and tandem or storage inventory so the garage carries its own cost instead of hiding it in rent. Advisory work supports entitlements: shared parking analysis for mixed-use podiums, reduction defense in hearings and lender reviews, and EV make-ready planning that meets the code tier without a later retrofit. Once the building leases, operations assessments cover permit control, guest policy, and enforcement, and where residents and visitors pay, revenue-control audits verify the money arrives.
Firm record (JDE work, all sectors, from JDE project records)
The multifamily practice draws on the same field methods as the rest of the firm: 850+ parking projects, $35M+ identified for clients, 500,000+ spaces managed, and work across all 50 states plus Canada and Mexico, on engagements representing $25B+ total value of client assets and projects advised.
FAQ
What does a multifamily parking study cover?
Demand counts at the site and comparable properties, a right-sized parking ratio by unit mix and location, guest and shared parking treatment, unbundling and pricing recommendations, and documentation written to survive planning and lender review.
What is unbundled parking?
The stall leases separately from the unit. Residents without cars stop paying for parking they do not use, parking requirements typically fall 10 to 30 percent per Victoria Transport Policy Institute guidance, and the garage becomes a priced asset with its own revenue line instead of a cost hidden in rent.
What is EV make-ready and when does it apply?
Code tiers that require electrical capacity for future charging: EV capable (conduit and panel space), EV ready (circuit installed), and EV installed (charger in place). Requirements rise each code cycle. Meeting the tier at construction costs a fraction of retrofitting an occupied garage.
Bring the unit mix and the code requirement. JDE will tell you how many stalls the project actually needs, what each avoided space is worth, and how to defend the number. Write to info@wearejde.com or start at 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
- Parking Reform Network, Parking Mandates Map: more than 100 U.S. cities have eliminated parking minimums. https://parkingreform.org (accessed July 2026)
- Hess, Daniel Baldwin and Rehler, Jeffrey, "Minus Minimums: Development Response to the Removal of Minimum Parking Requirements in Buffalo (NY)," Journal of the American Planning Association, volume 87, issue 3, 2021, pages 396 to 408, DOI 10.1080/01944363.2020.1864225: Buffalo projects built 53 percent fewer spaces than prior minimums required. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2020.1864225
- Gould, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 2022, as compiled in City and County of Denver, "Modernizing Parking Requirements Background and Peer Cities Report," May 2025: 868 Seattle residential developments in the five years after the 2012 reform built 40 percent fewer spaces than the old code required, an estimated $537 million in construction cost avoided and 144 acres freed. https://denvergov.org/files/assets/public/v/1/community-planning-and-development/documents/planning/projects/mpr_background-report_revised_05272025.pdf
- 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
- 2025 CALGreen, California Green Building Standards Code, Title 24 Part 11, effective January 1, 2026, superseding the 2022 edition: EV make-ready requirements. https://www.dgs.ca.gov/bsc/calgreen
- JDE figures on this page are firm-level canon from JDE project records and are not blended with the industry sources above.