The issue of parking is one of the most important aspects of building a new retail center or office, however, it is often underestimated by investors. The involvement of professional parking operator from the early beginning often allows to avoid mistakes in the design, use a proven organization parking, optimize the amount of equipment that must be purchased and formulate efficient functioning of the parking lot from the point of view of its users and the revenue that parking generates - says in the interview with Propertynews.pl managing director of APCOA Polska, Maciej Zawadzki.
-Does the choice of the parking lot operator and the systems which are used affect the process of commercialization of retail center or office?
-The aspect of choosing parking lot operator - whether it's a retail center, or office - is definitely an important element of commercialization facilities , although in our country is still not yet fully developed as well as developers , investors, property owners , agencies or other advisory bodies are not fully conscious about it. However, involvement of professional parking operator from the early beginning , i.e. at the design stage often allows to avoid mistakes in the design , use a proven organization parking , optimize the amount of equipment that must be purchased and formulate efficient functioning of the parking lot from the point of view of its’ users and the revenue that parking generates. APCOA manages in Europe about 7,500 car parks in 12 countries , including about 300 shopping malls , what makes APCOA the largest European car park operator. Having in this way unique know -how - and here I return to the issue of commercialization of the object, about which you asked - let us also favorably affect the commercialization of the process . I believe that the credibility of the parking operator and the quality of services offered by the car park management is the key here . Car parking operators in Poland do not offer a great choice, moreover, I guess it is difficult to expect a fair experience as well as advanced know -how and long-term stability from the company, which manages only ten or fifteen parking lots.
-What do you think-how much is the influence of modern parking systems on customers satisfaction at the shopping malls ?
-Comfort and satisfaction of the customers who visit shopping malls by their cars, is the key to success. We realize how demanding the customers become when using parking infrastructure and, how it is important for them to acquire subsequent maintenance parking and services at an appropriately high level . As car parking is the first and last place that the visitor of shopping mall sees, it must necessarily leave a good impression. Of course, this requires the use of new and advanced systems, technologies and solutions, but also it should be supplemented and operated by effective management. Moreover, nowadays parking systems must be very simple and easy to use as well as trouble-free from any accidents and damages. However, the reality shows, that for many parking managers this goal is not easy to achieve.
What kind of new technologies are most often used in parking lots ?
Among different solutions to facilitate the use of the car park it is essential to replace the systems vehicle registration numbers , which makes the diagnosis of the car parking system automatically opens the barriers . In large facilities parking guidance systems are installed on a free parking spot and remember the registration number and place the vehicle is parked. After entering in a special terminal, which is installed at the entrance to the parking lot, the driver can check the registration number place to park his car .Advanced payment system allows to pay using a mobile phone based on NFC technology. This allows very quick and efficient carrying out of transactions and simplify the parking infrastructure by eliminating most traditional automatic cash in the parking lot . In addition to described above technologies , there are much more services related to parking . For example, APCOA has a special offer so-called “Valet parking”. The solution lies in the fact that the driver pulls up at the entrance of any object type e.g. office building , shopping center or airport terminal , where the vehicle is received by the staff of parking lot and parked on a special guarded parking places. Then at the predetermined time the vehicle is parked at any place as it was fixed with the owner. However , in my opinion , the technology of valet parking (so-called automatic parking ) at the present stage of market development in Poland does not appear in the coming years , but it does not mean that such a model is not going to run once , but certainly not on a large scale because of the very high price of such a solution at relatively low parking charges in our country. In addition, vehicle drivers in this part of Europe - I think here of countries such as Poland and Germany - are accustomed to, and even strongly associated with the ability to self entry and exit of the car park. Therefore, I can say that this " traditional " entrance-exit ramps solutions are simpler , more intuitive , and thus the most desired by parkers. What are the differences between the solutions used in Poland and other European countries? This is what distinguishes us from even the United States or Western Europe - but do not forget about other highly developed economic regions of the world such as East Asia - is primarily price . I mean the price that users are willing to pay parking operators for parking management. The difference between Polish and Western European countries is quite big, even though the same technologies are used in car parks in Poland often does not differ from the "global level ." APCOA equips their car parks with the most modern equipment of renowned international manufacturers in all countries in which it operates , including Poland. Selection of parking equipment, ie, its configuration also depends on the nature of the facility, which is to be installed , plus the needed experience . We are looking for the most effective solutions but also cost-optimal and individually tailored to each location ,while maintaining a sufficiently high standard of service parking management . What are the main difficulties associated with the need to implement new solutions to existing shopping centers ? One of the unique competencies of APCOA PARKING is the modernization and optimization of the operation of car parks and matching appropriate solutions, including the selection of modern parking systems . Our experience shows that the biggest problem is the width of a parking space. For the last fifteen years vehicles have increased in their width by about 15 cm. The result now is that the car parks in shopping centers, which were build earlier, became tight and not user-friendly. Moreover, parking systems, infrastructure, surface, lighting or traffic routes often require replacement or costly repairment to correspond the new standards. On what projects are you currently concentrate ? Having the market position in Europe and Poland, and the experience gained by APCOA more than for 60 years of activity , many investors, pursuing larger-scale investments at the design stage or performance, entrust us to optimize the parking lot and ask for advice on the selection and configuration of parking equipment . In many cases, cooperation is long-term and APCOA take up management of the site and, in some cases, an investor is using different concepts to optimize the car park prepared by our team e.g. further is leading the project alone. Talking about the further plans of APCOA Polska, the company is going to maintain its position as number one in the parking industry - both in Poland and in Europe. We are of course talking about various projects , including very big areas, where APCOA could be a parking managing operator, but I can not say nothing more about it at this stage . We are interested in projects from quite small operations to large complex infrastructure projects, which are essential elements of the parking lot . Our clients are both public and private sectors - shopping centers and malls, offices, hotels, entertainment centers and conference and exhibition , private owners with attractively located properties - but also, and in not a small measure , the public sector - hospitals , railway stations , airports, offices , municipal parking lots . When it comes to the most important events of recent weeks , APCOA started its parking management in new modern buildings at Union Square (Plac Unii ) in Warsaw and in Katowice Gallery (Galerii Katowickiej). -Thank you for the interview
