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SIC 7521 Automobile Parking

SIC 7521
AUTOMOBILE PARKING

This classification covers establishments primarily engaged in the temporary parking of automobiles, usually on an hourly, daily, or monthly contract or fee basis. Establishments primarily engaged in extended or dead storage of automobiles are classified in SIC 4226: Special Warehousing and Storage, Not Elsewhere Classified.

NAICS Code(s)

812930 (Parking Lots and Garages)

Industry Snapshot

According to International Parking Institute sources, the automobile parking industry generated $43 billion in 1998, with $28 billion coming from the private side and $15 billion coming from the public side. This was a substantial increase over figures reported in previous years. The financial success of the automobile parking industry is tied to commercial real estate growth—a boom in new office buildings (and high occupancy rates within them) requires more lots to house the cars of commuters, clients, and related service industries in the area.

The International Parking Institute also reported that there were roughly 18,500 parking establishments in the United States in 1998. Approximately half of them were owned by municipalities, and the rest were privately held. There were about 105 million parking spaces in the United States with a 2 to 1 ratio of off-street versus on-street parking.

The industry employed about 73,400 workers, the majority of which were parking lot attendants and cashiers. Other positions included enforcement officers, maintenance personnel, office personnel, and information managers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the outlook for these jobs looked excellent through the year 2008, with the expected growth at 24 percent, industry-wide.

Organization and Structure

Often, parking lot operators do not own the land on which their businesses sit. Arrangements with the real estate holder are primarily of the fixed-fee management contract type, which does not require an outlay of capital from the operator; the parking company simply contracts to run a parking lot on the land and then collects a percentage of the parking revenues. Fixed-fee management contracts usually run one to three years. In another, less common type of contract, known as a lease arrangement, contracts run three times longer but provide a greater profit potential. In leasing a lot, a parking-lot operator is required to invest their own capital in the expansion or improvement of the lot, but receives a greater share of the profits.

The National Parking Association (NPA), founded in 1951 and based in Washington, D.C., had a membership of more than 1,000 private and public parking professionals. The association organized annual conventions and trade expositions, and published Parking, a trade periodical. The NPA also lobbied for industry concerns and reported on its activities in periodic Legislative Updates and Issue Alerts. The NPA's Parking Consultants Council, formed in 1972, was a professional and technical advice group within the association concerned with design issues, economic analysis, financial counseling, and analysis and maintenance of off-street parking facilities. The NPA also operated a foundation, the Parking Industry Institute, which granted scholarship awards to employees of member organizations and their families.

The International Parking Institute (IPI) was founded in 1962. It has a company member base of more than 1,300. Its mission is to provide leadership, technical resources, and information to the parking profession and related fields. The IPI provides professional training, holds an annual conference and publishes a monthly magazine called The Parking Professional, among other services and activities.

Background and Development

The growth of the parking industry has, of course, coincided with the growth of the automobile industry itself. According to the International Parking Institute, the first parking garage was built out of timber in 1909 in Columbus, Ohio. In 1912, the city of Chicago developed municipal parking lots in an effort to relieve the heavy downtown traffic congestion. The first parking meter was displayed in 1935 in Oklahoma City. Over the years, the number of off-street and on-street parking spaces and facilities has grown rapidly in response to the popularity of the automobile and the development of public roadways. Parking equipment has also grown more sophisticated, including automated gates and machines that accept money, calculate fees, and print tickets with and without the aid of an attendant.

Industry Leaders

Ranked according to sales volume, the three largest automobile parking companies in the United States in 1999 were Standard Parking Corp, based in Chicago, Illinois, with $450 million in sales and 3,800 employees; APCO, Inc. based in Cleveland, Ohio, with $350 million in sales and 3,500 employees; and Central Parking Corp, based in Nashville, Tennessee, with $232 million in sales and 9,300 employees.

Further Reading

International Parking Institute, 27 November 1999. Available from http://www.parking.org.

Parking Design Guide.. Detroit: Federal APD, Inc., 1997.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. National Industry-Occupation Employment Matrix. Washington, DC: GPO, 1999. Available from http://stats.bls.gov/oep/nioem/empior.asp.

Ward's Business Directory of U.S. Private and Public Companies. Volume 5. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 1999.

Related newspaper, magazine, and trade journal articles from HighBeam Research

(Including press releases, facts, information, and biographies)

	Polk Stanley Rowland Curzon Porter Architects Ltd. of Little Rock said its Harmon Avenue Parking Facility at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville won two awards from the International Parking Institute.(Business Briefs) Magazine article from: Arkansas Business; 11/20/2006; 58 words ; ...its Harmon Avenue Parking Facility at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville won two awards from the International Parking Institute: 2006 Award of Excellence--Category II (best design of a parking facility with 800 or more spaces) and 2006 Award of Merit... Read more
	Development of Sydney airport approved.(Brief Article) Magazine article from: Airline Industry Information; 4/19/2005; 162 words ; ...1997-2005 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD The Australian transport minister approved Sydney Airport's plans to build two multilevel automobile parking and commercial facility modules near the international terminal on Monday (18 April). The airport plans to build two 12-stor... Read more
	Q&A.(Interview) Newspaper article from: California Planning & Development Report; 5/1/2005; 700+ words ; ...where he headed the Institute of Transportation Studies from 1996 to 2001. For more than 20 years, Shoup has studied automobile parking policies. Recently, the American Planning Association published Shoup's new book. The High Cost of Free Parking, in which... Read more
	EUGENE CELEBRATION: THE BASICS.(Festivals) Newspaper article from: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR); 9/17/2004; 315 words ; ...wristbands are $10 today and Saturday, $7 on Sunday; children 12 and younger are admitted free with a commemorative button; automobile parking available in various publicly operated garages for $5, including the Overpark (Oak Street and 10th Avenue), Parcade (Willamette... Read more
	Bakersfield, California--new freezer building ready in spring 2002. (United States Cold Storage Expansion Updates).(Stellar Group Inc.)(Brief Article) Magazine article from: Frozen Food Digest; 2/1/2002; 137 words ; ...ten truck loading doors. Also included are a new office, restrooms, and locker room facilities, plus additional on-site automobile parking and tractor-trailer parking and a full capacity truck scale. When completed, the cubic capacity at Bakersfield will total... Read more
	WINNING BID TO IMPROVE AIRPORTS. Newspaper article from: Caribbean Update; 6/1/1999; 352 words ; ...investment, the consortium will receive 30% of all revenue from the airport's services, including retail space rental, automobile parking and private airplane parking. As part of their bid, Aerodom also agreed to invest an additional US$85 million during the... Read more
	Witkoff taps NKF to lease 600,000 s/f executive park.(NEW JERSEY) Magazine article from: Real Estate Weekly; 2/21/2007; 302 words ; ...from the George Washington Bridge, travel time to midtown Manhattan is typically 20 minutes or less. The site offers an automobile parking ratio of 4.00/1,000 s/f, with 200 free covered parking spaces and free surface spaces. A number of improvements to the... Read more
	San Diego Wins Battle of Midway. Magazine article from: San Diego Business Journal; 3/19/2001; ; 683 words ; ...because the Navy has given no assurances as to when they will turn over the pier to the port. The Navy uses the pier for automobile parking. Whether the pier will ever be turned over is still a gamble, said Diana Lilly, coastal planner with the Coastal Commission... Read more
	Coastal development invites hurricane damage. Magazine article from: USA Today (Magazine); 5/1/1993; ; 700+ words ; ...structures, whether beach bungalows or condos, are elevated several feet above the ground, sometimes high enough to allow automobile parking beneath them. They are built that way to escape flooding and wave battering in hurricanes. A few communities such as Warwick... Read more
	Protectionism in cyberspace. (Competing Interests).(Brief Article) Magazine article from: Chief Executive (U.S.); 7/1/2002; ; 691 words ; ...to limit the use of trucks on public roads, and conducted successfully in many places a nationwide campaign to prohibit automobile parking on principal streets. America thrived as horses yielded to cars. The nation likewise will prosper as consumers carry their... Read more

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