Calgary’s parking rates second priciest in North America, survey finds

Parking a car downtown can cost more than a meal out these days. In one Canadian city, it's especially bad. It isn't Vancouver or Toronto, though: It's Calgary.

A survey by Cushman & Wakefield, an international commercial real estate company, found Canada's energy capital has the most expensive downtown monthly parking rates in Canada, the Calgary Herald reports.

And in all of North America, only New York City has higher monthly parking costs, the company found.

Calgary commuters pay an average of $473 a month, compared with a national average of $251 for the top 12 Canadian parking markets, the Herald said.

Cushman & Wakefield didn't have a specific figure for New York, saying its estimate was based on anecdotal evidence.

[ Related: Top medical journal argues hospital parking fees should be abolished ]

However, Colliers International's 2012 North American parking survey found New York parking rates averaged US$533 downtown and US$562 midtown, with Calgary second at US$439.

Montreal was a distant second to Calgary in the Cushman & Wakefield survey, with monthly rates averaging $344, while Toronto was a comparatively reasonable $315, Edmonton $306 and Vancouver $302, the Herald said.

“It’s a direct response to supply and demand. Pure and simple,” Bob MacDougall, senior managing director for Cushman & Wakefield Ltd. in Calgary, told the Herald.

Calgary is booming and all types of real estate are at a premium. Parking spaces aren't immune.

“Landlords say ‘hey, the market is dictating that more can be extracted’ and so it’s simple economics and the same thing translates to parking," said MacDougall.

“It will be interesting to see what that sort of threshold point is where parking users say enough is enough. Now that starts to get a little complicated because not only does it bring parking policy into play but it also brings public transportation into play."

The high cost of parking ripples through the economy, MacDougall said. Companies worry it will make it harder to hire and retain employees. Some, such as Imperial Oil, are looking to move out of downtown, while others may increase parking or transit subsidies for employees, he said.

Parking costs have already affected short-stay parking, Calgary Downtown Association executive director Maggie Schofield told the Herald. New buildings provide fewer spaces, meaning more people will chose transit to get downtown.

[ Related: Boston woman pays half a million dollars for two parking spaces ]

"We have seen the uptick in transit ridership really blossom," she said.

So where might parking be cheapest in Canada?

According to the Colliers survey for 2012, downtown Ottawa averaged US$216 a month, while Victoria cost $178 and Regina just under US$176.

When it comes to hourly parking, Montreal tops the list at a median US$9, followed by Toronto at US$8, than Calgary and Vancouver at US$7. You can park for an hour in Regina for just US$2.

So where are the world's most expensive parking spaces?

NBC News reported last September a space in downtown London was on the market for US$465,000, while a US$120-million condo in New York had the city's first million-dollar parking space.