That's according to Greg Bonifield of Summit Properties (NYSE: SMT) developers of the Summit Grand Parc. Faced with the challenge of converting an historic downtown Washington, DC office building into luxury apartments, Summit could not physically accommodate the normal parking ramps and circulation routes required by a conventional parking structure. Somehow Summit needed to squeeze 74 parking spaces onto a footprint measuring 60 feet by 106 feet with a depth of just 32 feet.

Summit found the solution at SpaceSaver Parking, whose "mechanical parking systems utilize computer-controlled, robotic transport devices with vertical and horizontal movement capability to transport vehicles from the street level to a storage compartment and back without human intervention."

As the adjacent picture of the vertical Saab "showroom" demonstrates, SpaceSaver builds something like a gigantic vending machine (in the case of the Grand Parc, below ground). You wave your key fob transponder at an electronic reader; the door opens; you drive your car into an entry box; you stop your car on a pallet; you leave the car entry box; the door shuts; and the SpaceSaver system moves the car to a memorized position for later retrieval. The cost for the garage and equipment at the Grand Parc was about $30,000 per space, and the monthly rental rates are currently $225 (SUVs $250). Very cool. And you don't have to worry about parking attendants skimming off cash!

Season's Greetings... PikeNet will take a short break. We'll be back on January 6. May you enjoy peace and happiness with your family during the Holiday Season.

--Peter Pike