Downtown Memphis.

The Downtown Memphis Commission’s (DMC) mission is to “drive Downtown’s role as the economic, cultural, and governmental core of our city and county.” As a part of this mission, the DMC operates several parking garages through their sub-entity the Downtown Mobility Authority (DMA). Two facilities they oversee are the First Park Place (FPP) & 250 Peabody Garages. Each accommodates office parkers during the day and transient visitors for events and nightlife. However, neither garage was maximizing its unique location to draw in both monthly and hourly parkers, leading to years of stagnant revenue generation.

Mismanaged Parking.

The previous garage management firm did not position these assets correctly for the city from a marketing perspective or operating dynamic leading potential parkers to believe that the garages were unavailable for them to park. Due to the lack of strategy, low occupancy became the norm mitigating potential revenue creation and the ability to invest back into the parking structures.

Premium’s Solution.

Premium Parking took over operations of the Downtown Mobility Authority’s garage portfolio in July 2020. The first order of business was to change how monthly parking was handled by adjusting occupancy analysis by removing those who were subscribed but not parking. Once this was completed, hourly transient parking was implemented during the day to increase revenue. Additionally, both garages were positioned as preferred parking destinations for AutoZone Park goers and 250 Peabody selected in conjunction with Memphis Red Birds as the new parking location for their Season Ticket and corporate Suite Holders.

The Results.

At the end of Fiscal Year 2021, revenue increased by more than 23% at the FPP Garage & 52% at 250 Peabody compared to 2019. Premium was also able to save on annual payroll by removing booth attendants and decreasing the number of managers. This resulted in more than $165,000 of combined annual payroll savings for both locations. The implementation of Premium’s GLIDEPARCS® software combined with the local team’s dedication to marketing of the garage’s positioned both assets to allow for the ability to move forward with needed capital improvement projects. This partnership between the DMC and Premium has continued to grow as the DMC opened the Downtown Mobility Center in 2023 which won the Honorable Mention Award of Excellence with the International Parking & Mobility Institute. By forming a multitude of partnerships with stakeholders in Downtown Memphis as well as offering a convenient, reliable, and cleaner parking solution in the heart of the city, residents and visitors alike can start their journey off right when they go to visit Downtown Memphis.