Living Underground: Why parking is the new real estate.
New life for existing underground parking structures
Technology has revolutionized our daily life at a human scale from our pockets with the smartphones to our wrist with the wearable. However the revolution has already started at an urban scale. Smart cities and transportation will experience drastic changes in the years to come.
A Toyota Prius with modified with Google’s driver-less technology was the first driver-less licensed car back in 2012. Since then the technology has done nothing more than getting better and safer. At the same time, cities have evolved into what we call today Smart Cities, where all the infrastructures and facilities are monitored through sensors to save water, energy, improve traffic and to become more efficient.
At the same time, we see how our economic and spending habits are changing and consumers are shifting from an ownership mentality to a pay per service or membership model. While nobody question memberships to music subscription services like Spotify or Apple Music, some companies are implementing the same model in the transportation from bike sharing services to car services like Car2Go or Evo or riding services like Uber or Lyft. These services claim that you will spend less time and money per year using them, once you do the math of owning a car, insurance, gas, maintenance and parking for people living in cities it seems be proving true.
Given the above it would be simple to think that the future will be faced in the direction of electric driver-less car, efficiently running 24/7 through smart city that you will be able call from your phone instantly without the hassles and cost of ownership.
But the truth is that we have been planning and erecting buildings with underground parking since the last century thinking that everyone would own a car. If the new reality comes true, those spaces will become empty but they will still require maintenance and renovations to secure the integrity and safety of the buildings. Is there a possibility to rethink that spaces to activate them at the same time that they generate a revenue for building owner?
1. Indoor Urban Farming
Science has already proved that it is possible. Companies like Farm.One in NYC are already growing vegetables and flowers under LED lights and hydroponic technology, stacking them vertically to save space. They currently do it in warehouses or small retail shops, but an existing underground parking structure, which already have mechanical systems that can be retrofitted for the purpose, could produce a great amount of vegetables, at a fraction of the real estate cost. The vegetables could be consumed by the inhabitants of the building or sold to local stores, reducing transportation costs and making vegetables more affordable at the time that generates a revenue for the building.
2. Storage Facilities
Apartment are getting smaller every day as a consequence of the real estate dynamics and prices, and one of the things that home owners complain about more is the lack of storage. Companies like Big Steel Box provide container solutions where you can put all your belongings that they store for you in a facility somewhere outside of the city for a monthly fee, but the truth is that you can not access your storage to get a small item whenever you need it.
Given the size of a standard parking stall, approximately 18' x 8'6 x 8', it would seem feasible to build a standard storage containers with this urban size. It could be moved from building to building keeping it always close to you. You would not need to empty your storage anymore and it would be always accessible to you just by taking the elevator! You could just bring it with you to your new place anytime you move and at the same time it would generate revenue to the owners of the building.
3. Data Centers
Software companies don’t sell physical copies of their products anymore. Everything is stored in data centers and clients access the programs in the cloud. Every day there are more internet users and tech companies needing more and more data centers.
Due to the high price of real estate in cities, tech companies try to build the data centers in rural areas which makes them less accessible and require additional additional infrastructure to connect them to the cities.
Adapting unused underground parking spaces to be used as data centers would ease all that pains at a fraction of the real estate cost.
4. Gyms and Sport Facilities
Living in the city and working out during daylight hours seems a luxury, especially in winter. Most people schedule their workouts at 6 AM or after 5 PM, without daylight, and on weekends they take the chance to exercise outdoors for a good balance.
Some fitness trends like Soul Cycle or Spin Society provide an immersive experience where people are cycling in an enclosed dark space at the sound of the beat to improve concentration and provide a unique atmosphere.
Other facilities like squash courts, weight rooms or even an indoor swimming pool are also alternatives that would be suitable for this underground spaces.
5. Theaters and clubs
One of the places where light is definitely not a must is at a cinema or a club. The lack of light plus the fact of being surrounded by soil would help with noise absorption and make that spaces ideal for these activities.
One of the main critiques to theaters and clubs when placed in the street is that they don’t interact much with the street, normally they are just enclosed boxes that provide a blank wall to the street. Placing them underground would free up that space in the ground level and create new opportunities for retail and restaurants.
Be open and explore, because change always comes unexpectedly and there are always good things and opportunities associated to it.
Currently the described uses might not be a possibility given the current regulations, but that is why planners, architects and developers have to think forward. Be open and explore, because change always comes unexpectedly and there are always good things and opportunities associated to it. The possibilities are endless, and entrepreneurs should sharpen their minds to take advantage of this.
There are lots of uses that don’t need natural light and that would benefit from the insulation of thick concrete walls and the lower temperature existing in that spaces. At the same time, the lower price of this underground spaces compared to above ground buildings, would make possible some business ideas to succeed.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
