Park Your Investment in Parking in Paris

Yesterday we signed on the sale of a garage. Garages don’t come cheap in the City of Light. This one — two narrow bays with fancy-schmancy atelier-style metal and glass doors, in a courtyard at the Place des Vosges — sold for almost 3,000€ per square meter.

If you have a car in Paris, then one of the greatest challenges is finding parking. A Web site, Parking de Paris is one way to find a public spot. Another is via the city site, Paris.fr and paris.fr/stationnement There are other sites as well as an app in iTunes called Parking Dispo.

Heather Stimmler-Hall of Secrets of Paris enlightened us in July of this past year with her article, “Parking in Paris: Important Changes,” so read up if you’re a driver in the city.

Parking zones, from “Secrets of Paris”I have personally lived without a car now since moving here in 1994 and don’t miss it one bit, but I’m urban centric and only need a car on rare occasions. If you’re living and working here, or outside of the city, and must have a car, plus want easy access to it at all times, then having your own spot is not only a luxury, but perhaps a necessity. Few buildings in central Paris built more than 100 years ago come with parking. In addition, city planners have been converting parking spaces along the streets to wider sidewalks with trees, bike lanes and parking for two-wheelers…all in the interest of encouraging pedestrianism, public transportation and reduced use of cars which of course, pollute our environment.

It’s working, too! But the result has been that owning, driving and parking a car in Paris is becoming increasingly more difficult. For someone like me, owning a car in Paris is like having a ball and chain around your ankle, but for many, it’s absolutely necessary…to get to work, to transport business materials and facilitate daily activities. There is also that snobbish attitude that a ‘certain level’ of individuals shouldn’t ‘be seen’ on public transportation contributing to the traffic -– sad, but true. What a shame, when we have one of the best public transportation systems in the world!

Confused parker?Meanwhile, the need or desire to own a car may dictate where and in what kind of building you live, as newer buildings in the outer districts are more prone to offer parking. That’s why a space in the Place des Vosges is at a premium…hard to find and expensive. Our Notaire compiled a report for us of recently sold garages as a way to price compare. The most expensive was for two spots in a closed space underground on rue du Pont de Lodi in the 6th arrondissement for 170,000€! The least expensive was 5,000€ for two spaces in an enclosed garage on rue Rébeval in the 19th.

Nonetheless, owning a parking space in Paris is pure gold. According to the French standard “Norme NF P 91-100,” the minimum width of parking spaces ranges from 2.20 to 2.30 meters (7.2–7.5 feet) with the length about double that. This means that a space averages about 12.5 square meters, and the average cost per square meter is more than 2,000€! With the average per square meter cost of an apartment in Paris of about 8,000€, this makes parking about one-fourth as expensive as habitation.

Underground parking lotParking spaces can also be rented -– lucrative for the owner and practical for the operator of the vehicle. In Particulier à Particulier, a great source of “for rent by owner” ads, there are only two spaces advertised in the 4th arrondissement of the 74 on the list in Paris! The least expensive is 70€ per month in the 13th, and the most expensive is 340€ in the 19th…

The cost to own and operate the two spaces at Place des Vosges is about 1,500€ annually when considering the homeowners association fees and annual property taxes. So, while the rents can cover the carrying costs, the real investment value is in the resale of the unit. This is true for an apartment that comes with a parking space – it’s a real asset should you be so lucky as to find one to purchase or have one to sell!

Happy Parking.

A bientôt and a very happy new year,

Adrian Leeds
Editor, French Property Insider

Email: [email protected]

(Many, many thanks to David Maddux and Beekman Hall in Jackson Heights who have immortalized me on a Christmas Tree ornament (!): “Christmas trees not being entirely cat friendly -– depending on the feline involved -– we do wreaths at Beekman Hall. This year, a grand total of six, each a weave of Douglas fir, boxwood, and cedar branches. Our ornaments are of two sorts: food and Paris. We did a Paris wreath and added a new, handmade ornament: one that pays homage to Adrian Leeds, renowned Paris realtor whom, we dream, one day will set us up with our own Paris apartment. Our constant theme at home is imagining we simply pick up the phone, and…’Hello, Adrian?'” — David Maddux)

P.S. I am co-sponsoring another “”American Expat Seminar in Paris”” with special guests Brian Dunhill & Carl Mir. Topics include your financial future abroad and updates to filing your US taxes while abroad. Details are available on our Conferences and Workshops page.

P.P.S. We promise you 50 issues a year, and as it turns out, that’s what you’ve gotten! So on the last day of 2015, December 31st, we’re going to take the day off…as you should, too! Catch us in 2016 with much more insider insights into French Property!