There are few issues in Downtown Grand Rapids that spark more spirited debate than parking. Most of these arguments center on whether or not there are enough spaces to accommodate residents, workers, and visitors.

Regardless of your position on the matter, most reasonable people agree on two things: 1) Parking is the worst part of driving, and 2) We should use good and factual information to support the debate regarding how to deliver the best possible parking experience.

To that point, Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. (DGRI) crunched the numbers and compiled these ten facts about the current parking supply situation in Downtown GR:

  1. DGRI counts 5,000 parking spaces recently completed, under construction, or in the development pipeline in Downtown GR.
  2. This amounts, conservatively, to a net gain of 3,000 in the Downtown area - when taking in to consideration that much of this development is making higher and better use of surface lots and spaces.
  3. 3,000 spaces is a lot of parking - equivalent of more than 5 new ramps like the City owns on Monroe Center or more than 12 ramps like the one at Gallery on Fulton/UICA.
  4. Parking is expensive. Unbundling the cost to build parking from the overall cost of the development is difficult - but an agreeable local standard for what it costs to build a parking garage ranges from $30,000-$35,000 per space.
  5. The 5,000 parking spaces cited above breaks down as 4,300 new garage spaces and 700 new surface spaces.
  6. $30,000 per space multiplied by the 4,300 new garage spaces recently completed, under construction or in the pipeline totals an estimated $129 million.
  7. This estimated $129 million parking investment ranks as the 5th largest investment project in Downtown’s contemporary revitalization movement behind the Children’s Hospital, VanAndel Institute, DeVos Place and the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion.
  8. The private and institutional sector lead the way on this investment - currently building 90% of the total spaces coming on line.
  9. This is primarily because 1) demand is rising 2) Downtown land value is rising and 3) changes to public finance incentives make ramp construction more attractive for developers and investors.
  10. In other words, the private and institutional sectors are building to accommodate their growth, an encouraging signal in a local parking market historically dependent on publicly-financing new supply.

Click here for more information and research on parking supply and rates. This database, built by a partnership between DGRI and the City of Grand Rapids, remains a work in progress and has a few gaps. But it represents the best information currently available. We'll continue to evolve the tool for future use.