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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=674095421-09112005>But, the the parking
is on floors 5 -16, all above ground. So they still have some room for
improvement.</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=674095421-09112005>Want Deed to Park
Place?</SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">By Cara Mia DiMassa, Times Staff
Writer<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">When David Kean got home from his
shopping spree Sunday, he immediately went online. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"Well, I spent 40K today," wrote
Kean, a real estate agent, in a post on the website LoftLA.com. "Expensive
weekend."<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Pricey jewelry? Luxury car?
<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">No, parking
spaces.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Kean is a future resident of 1100
Wilshire, a swanky high-rise condo development downtown. And for his $40,000, he
bought the right to park his Mercedes CLK coupe and Lincoln Aviator in two
spaces on the sixth floor of his building. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Not long ago in car-friendly
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
/><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:place></st1:City>,
free parking seemed like a birthright. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">But the real estate boom has hit
even the parking lot. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">1100 Wilshire is selling parking
spots for $15,000 to $20,000 a pop, offering new residents, who are paying
$400,000 to $1 million for their units, the chance to wrap the cost of their
spaces into their mortgages.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Such prices may have been
standard in tony sections of <st1:State w:st="on">New York</st1:State>,
<st1:City w:st="on">Boston</st1:City> and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:City>, long known for their walk-able
downtowns and elaborate public transportation systems. But in <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:place></st1:City> — home to some
of the world's first parking garages as well as those sprawling postwar shopping
mall parking lots — the price tags are raising some eyebrows.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Real estate professionals said
the setup seems unusual — even along the canyon of high-rise condos in
<st1:place w:st="on">West Los Angeles</st1:place>. Shel Kirschner, an agent with
Coldwell Banker in <st1:place w:st="on">West Los Angeles</st1:place>, said that
he hadn't heard of selling parking spaces separately from condo
units.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"If you buy a unit in any of
condos on the Westside, 90% of the time, you do have assigned parking" included
with the purchase price, he said.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Donald Shoup, a professor of
urban planning at UCLA, said the arrangement "is bringing us more into line with
what other big cities are doing." <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">By charging separately for
parking, said Shoup, author of "The High Cost of Free Parking," 1100 Wilshire in
effect encourages use of public transportation by residents of the building,
which is just a few blocks from a Metro subway stop. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"Unbundling the parking gives
people a new choice," said Shoup. "Maybe it will deter people who want to own
three cars, and encourage people who own only one. This is exactly the direction
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">L.A.</st1:place></st1:City> ought to be
moving: People who use less parking pay less for housing." <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">In other cities, "it would be
unthinkable to have the parking thrown in for free. It would turn it into
<st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">L.A.</st1:place></st1:City>"<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Residents of the 1100 building
get two unassigned spaces with their purchase price, said Kevin Ratner, a senior
vice president of Forest City Enterprises, which is developing the
project.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">But the building's design
requires drivers to climb a four-story "speed ramp" before parking on the fifth
through 16th floors. The unassigned spaces are on the higher floors — and just
getting to them could be enough to induce acrophobia. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Hence the premium parking.
<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"You can buy your way down in the
building," said Ratner. "I would do it if I were buying there. When you roll it
into the mortgage, the monthly impact is comparable to what you would pay for
parking. And for resale, it's great." <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">While urban planners might hope
the high prices will drive some residents to mass transit, early evidence
suggests otherwise. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Developer</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Forest</st1:PlaceType> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">City</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> rolled out the parking program just a
few weeks ago, and the response has been positive, Ratner said. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">"You can buy more than two spaces
… you could have more than two cars. It is a car-centric town," he said. "Maybe
your husband has a couple of hot rods."<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">In downtown <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Los Angeles</st1:place></st1:City>, where parking
has long been at a premium, some say the 1100 Wilshire prices are just another
necessary evil. Many lots downtown charge $100 or more per month for parking.
Residents of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Higgins</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Building</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> at 2nd and Main streets recently
voted to charge themselves a condo fee of $65 a month to pay for a valet for
themselves and their guests. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p> </o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Kean, the 1100 Wilshire condo
owner who purchased two spaces, said he is guaranteeing himself an easy ride
home. "Otherwise, you come home late, and you have to circle up to the 11th
floor…. It's a mile up."</P></DIV><!-- Converted from text/rtf format -->
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<P align=left><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-parking9nov09,1,4393294.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true">http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-parking9nov09,1,4393294.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true</A></FONT></P>
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