Parking is the Luxury in Luxury Buildings

Note: In the time since I first wrote this, some more research has come up which indicates that building an underground spot in Brookline is closer to $100,000 in 2020 dollars. So you can take all those quantities below and multiply by 3. 

A lot of folks who complain about new development argue both a) that it's only "luxury" apartments being built and b) that there isn't enough parking. What gets lost in this conversation is that parking (especially in dense, urban areas, well served by transit, person-sized vehicle infrastructure, and places in walking and rolling distance), is that no amount of granite countertops can make up for the price of the required parking space(s).

For example, this study (http://shoup.bol.ucla.edu/HighCost.pdf) from 2014, with data necessarily predating even then puts underground parking spaces in Boston at $31,000 each just to build. This doesn't include the cost to maintain or ventilate the garage nor does it factor in any of the opportunity cost (e.g., now having to dig deeper to store mechanical equipment on another level or the use of the garage space for other communal purposes).

That is, in 2014 dollars, $31,000 added to the price of each unit for each parking space. A three-bedroom unit in a multifamily building in Brookline is required to have 2.3 parking spaces (reduced to 2.0 parking spaces if within a half-mile of the Green Line). So any 3-bedroom unit has its price increased by $62,000 - $71,000 before even breaking ground.

For the sake of comparison, each parking space is the equivalent of:
- 345 sq ft of granite countertops (source: https://homeguide.com/costs/granite-countertops-cost) or
- 3,100 sq ft of marble tiling (source: https://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/flooring/marble-flooring/)
- 4 Sub Zero "Designer" freezers (source: https://www.subzero-wolf.com/sub-zero/configurator#sort=%40fdisplayorder82424%20descending&f:Style=[Designer])
- 9 Miele washer/dryer combos (source: https://www.yaleappliance.com/advanced-search.aspx?brands=Miele&subCat=Full+Size;Unitized;Compact&priceSort=0&brandSort=0&pageIndex=1)

(note, these prices are in 2019 dollars, which means these are all significant underestimates)

Given the comparative costs of finishes and appliances, it is clear...

The biggest luxury in these buildings, by far, is the parking space.

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