The Community Paper

End of parking minimums an optimistic step toward Orlando urbanism


The Society Orlando building, which is being built in three phases, was approved before the City of Orlando removed parking minimums for developments downtown. The three-phased project will include 867 residential units, 41,000 sq. ft. of commercial space and 1,374 parking spaces. (S.T. CARDINAL)

The City of Orlando has eliminated the required minimum parking spaces for any new development downtown.

Before the land development code was altered last August, a multifamily residential development, for example, required 1.5 parking spaces per dwelling unit. Now, with that requirement removed for new developments in the Central Business District, there is potential for future projects to be built with a higher unit-to-parking-space ratio.

“This is really important in urban areas as it will allow for more existing buildings to be available to transition into residential uses,” City of Orlando spokesperson Ashley Papagni wrote in a statement to The Community Paper. “It also makes new development opportunities more affordable to develop as there are considerable costs when building parking garages.”

In October, the City of Orlando gave a project final approval, including much less parking than was required. The 37-story tower would be the fifth-tallest building downtown if built. With 555 residential units, the plans call for 300 parking spaces, a 0.54-unit-to-parking-space ratio.

Some developers embrace the idea of reduced parking requirements. Scott Culp, an affordable housing developer with Atlantic Housing Partners, said a development with reduced parking is feasible and would increase density, which is essential to a strong urban core. In a residential building, housing units make more money than parking spaces, and a robust urban core sparks more development in an area.

Even though parking minimums are gone, don’t expect to see new developments cropping up with no parking included. Commercial lenders may be reluctant to fund a project with little to no parking if they do not think the specific area has adequate public transportation infrastructure.

District 1 City Commissioner Jim Gray has a unique perspective on the matter as he is not only involved in municipal government but is also a commercial real estate broker, working as managing director of CBRE.

“In every office transaction we do, that’s one of the first questions that comes up is what kind of parking capacity does the building have for my employees,” Gray said. “I think [the code alteration] gives options, but I think what you’ll find is a majority of commercial property owners will build adequate parking because they know that’s what their tenants want.”

Wells Fargo declined to comment when asked by The Community Paper how parking minimums factor into whether a new development is funded. Gray said that banks are hesitant to take on that risk because loan rates on these projects are low (3% – 5%).

“Lenders are extremely scared of that model because they’ve never experienced it, so it’s very hard to get financing for that kind of project,” Brad Parker, a land expert with Southern Realty Enterprises Inc., said. “Your ratio is entirely different [in a big city like New York] because of the limited availability of land.”

According to 2020 Census data, 80% of workers 16 and over in the 32801 ZIP code drive to work. That’s an increase from 78% of residents in 2016, even with 4.5% more respondents in 2020 saying they work from home than in 2016.

“We don’t have the mass transit capabilities to provide transportation to people like a lot of big cities do, so unless you want to do ride share or Uber everywhere you go, I think you’re still going to need a car with a place to park it,” Gray said. “Remote work decreases the need a little bit, but I still think most people need to own a car [in downtown Orlando].”

The City’s action to remove parking minimums altogether — rather than just reducing the ratio — is an initial step for the City’s vision of a multimodal downtown.

“Who’s going to be the first guy to test the waters and do something that radical in Orlando? That’s a million-dollar question,” Parker said. “Because a developer can build something all day long, but whether they sell it to a real estate investment trust with minimal parking is another question.”

Austin Valle, a member of the pro-urbanist advocacy group Orlando YIMBYs, said that the most dynamic cities in the world are explored by foot and that Orlando needs a more walkable, less car-oriented city center.

“While I don’t know for sure, I’ll bet you some part of this was in anticipation of the transportation tax passing this fall, which would have put more buses on the street and provided more dollars for more walkability features,” Gray said. “The reality is we’re still very dependent on cars, and I think it’s going to take a while for that to change.”

One response to “End of parking minimums an optimistic step toward Orlando urbanism”

  1. william riggs says:

    if you have 550 apts and 300 parking spaces where are 250 people suppose to park. There’s no parking downtown

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