No car parks in Auckland apartment block

What! No car parks in this new Auckland apartment block?

That’s right – a 33-unit, $17.5 million apartment block in Ockham Residential’s “Daisy” complex at 11 Akepiro St in Mt Eden doesn’t have any private car parks.

There is room to park 40 bicycles, 12 scooters and two shared cars run through the Cityhop model for residents’ use,

But the one and two-bedroom apartment block challenges the traditional basement garage model where apartment buyers aim for at least one parking bay per unit, the NZ Herald

reports.

Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) New Zealand chairman David Vinsen says it’s a sign of the times.

“Many new apartment blocks won’t be putting car parks in,” he says. “It’s a trend happening more and more.”

Vinsen believes residents in such apartment blocks will use other forms of transport, such as ride-sharing.

Ockham’s co-founder Mark Todd wants to set a new standard for sustainable living. No single private car parks will pave the way for “a new wave of international-style, public transport-focused apartment projects”, he says.

“Auckland is growing rapidly. We will be the size of Sydney in 30 years. The progressive mandates of the Auckland Plan and the Auckland Unitary Plan promote the creative use of urban land and dispense with dated car-centric rules,” Todd says.

“Public transport and autonomous call vehicles are the future for urban residents.”

Mayor Phil Goff says the complex reduces congestion with a carsharing scheme provided instead of car parks. The council worked closely with Ockham to bring this development to the finish line, he says.

Ockham chief executive Helen O’Sullivan says deposits have been paid on 30 of the 33 new units which sold for an average $530,000. The site is only 320sqm and 80m from one of the busiest bus routes.

Several other apartment block developments around Auckland are also cutting back on car parks, one offering scooters instead.