Recently, Housing and Development Board (HDB) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) announced that public car park charges will be increased.
Below are the current rates.
| Current Rates | New Rates | |
| Regular short term parking | $0.50 per half hour | $0.60 per half hour |
| RZ/DA Parking | $1.00 per half hour | $1.20 per half hour |
With the announcement, there are also news that private car park operators and shopping malls will also be revising their parking rates to match public car park charges. The reason is because shopping malls and private car park operators are afraid cars may all flock to private car parks and malls if public car park charges increase. This is especially true for neighborhood malls such as Northpoint, Tampines Mall and Bedok Mall etc. These malls are located near to MRT stations and housing estates and there can be a possibility of cars flocking to park at these malls.
Being a car owner myself, I curse and swear at the increase in public car park charges. However, if shopping malls do increase their car park charges, it may be beneficial to me as an investor as well. Most car parks in shopping malls are owned by retail REITs themselves. Some examples are Capitaland Mall Trust which owns Bedok Mall, Tampines Mall, Junction 8, Lot One Shoppers’ Mall and Bukit Panjang Plaza. Frasers Centrepoint Trust owns Northpoint, Causeway Point, Bedok Point and Yew Tee Point.
The following REITs I found own car park assets.
Parkway Life REIT
What? A healthcare REIT owning car parks? Yes, you are right. Parkway Life REIT owns 69 car park lots belonging to Gleneagles Intan Medical Centre Kuala Lumpur. Not only that, Parkway Life REIT also owns 363 car park lots in Mount Elizabeth Hospital.
Link REIT
Link REIT owns the largest portfolio of car park in Hong Kong. Link REIT owns and manage approximately 76,000 car park spaces in Hong Kong. The car parks are located near retail facilities and Hong Kong public housing estates and thus they serve local residents, shoppers and tenants.
Suntec REIT
Suntec City has 3066 car park lots. MBFC has 697 car park lots. One Raffles Quay has 713 car park lots. Most car park lots in shopping malls are own by the REIT themselves.
Capitaland Commercial Trust
Golden Shoe Car Park is owned by Capitaland Commercial Trust. It has 1053 car park lots.
Conclusion
Although an increase in car park charges will add to the REIT’s total revenue, more research has to be done on the fundamentals of the REIT and whether the increase in car park charges will have a significant impact.
Yup. Car park lots is actually a hidden goldmine for malls and office buildings but the analysts rarely mention this in their reports.