Sell your parking garage
Garages and surface lots, managed or leased. Concrete that needs work, demand that moved, land waiting for its use.
Parking Garage at a glance
- Typical deal size
- $1M – $40M
- Lease structure
- Management agreement, or operator lease
- Typical term
- 1–5 years managed, 10–20 years leased
- Escalations
- Revenue-driven; percentage rent over a base
Overview
What parking garages & lots are really worth
Our read
A parking asset has no demand of its own. It earns from the buildings around it — the offices, hospitals, stadiums, universities, and courthouses that bring people within walking distance and give them nowhere else to put a car. Its value is a bet on those neighbors, and the first diligence question is always which of them you could afford to lose.
Garages and surface lots are also two different assets that share a name. A surface lot is land with an interim income stream, and in most downtowns the land is what a buyer is really paying for. A garage is a building — and a building that depreciates faster than nearly any other commercial structure, because it is exposed to weather, road salt, and the constant load of moving vehicles.
That makes structural condition the item that breaks the most garage deals. Post-tensioned decks, chloride damage, and delaminating concrete do not show from the drive aisle, and a repair estimate on a neglected garage can be measured against its entire value. Owners who know that number before they go to market sell more cleanly than owners who find out in diligence.
Valuation
How we underwrite it
The method
We underwrite the demand first: what sits within walking distance, how concentrated the revenue is across monthly, transient, event, and validation parkers, and how exposed it is to one building's occupancy. A garage feeding a hospital and a garage feeding a single office tower are not the same risk at the same revenue.
For garages, the structural assessment drives the price as much as the income does. We commission a parking engineer's review and price the repair scope directly, along with revenue control equipment that has aged out.
For surface lots, we underwrite the land alongside the parking income and take whichever is higher. A lot generating modest revenue on a block that can be entitled for development is a land deal, and we would rather say so than pretend it is an income deal.
Recorded obligations — shared parking covenants, easements for neighboring buildings, spaces committed at fixed rates — are read early, because they survive a sale and cap what the asset can earn.
What moves the number
- 01The demand generators within walking distance — offices, hospitals, stadiums, universities, courthouses — and how many of them you would lose sleep over losing
- 02Monthly contract parkers versus transient and event revenue, since contracts are the floor and transient is the upside
- 03Structural condition of a garage, which depreciates faster than almost any other commercial building and hides its problems inside the concrete
- 04Whether the operator runs under a management agreement or a fixed lease, which decides who carries the revenue risk
- 05Redevelopment value of the land under a surface lot or an obsolete garage, frequently the real number
- 06Local parking taxes, rate controls, and the direction the city is moving on parking minimums
Capital markets today
- 10-yr Treasury
- 5.24%
- 4.12% a year ago
- SOFR
- 3.87%
- 4.2% a year ago
- 30-yr mortgage
- 7.28%
- 6.3% a year ago
- CRE loan delinquency
- 1.53%
- 1.57% a year ago
- CRE prices, YoY
- 6.58%
- -2.7% a year ago
Sources: FRED DGS10, 2026-10-01 · FRED SOFR, 2026-10-01 · FRED MORTGAGE30US, 2026-10-01 · FRED DRCRELEXFACBS, 2026-04-01 · FRED COMREPUSQ159N, 2026-01-01
Diligence
What a buyer actually looks at in a parking garage
- Check 01
Structural condition assessment by a parking engineer
Post-tensioned decks, chloride intrusion from road salt, delamination, and failed expansion joints are invisible from the drive aisle. A garage can look fine and carry a repair bill measured against its entire value.
- Check 02
Revenue history by segment — monthly, transient, event, validation
Total revenue hides concentration. A garage that depends on one office tenant's monthly contract is a different asset from one with diversified transient demand.
- Check 03
Management agreement or operator lease
Under a management agreement the owner carries revenue and expense risk and the operator earns a fee. Under a lease the operator carries it. Termination rights and who controls rates matter in both.
- Check 04
Shared-use, easement, and parking covenant obligations
Many garages and lots are encumbered by recorded rights for neighboring buildings — spaces that must be provided at a set rate or free. Those obligations survive a sale and cap revenue.
- Check 05
Equipment and technology — gates, pay stations, license plate recognition
Revenue control systems age out, and older equipment leaks revenue. Replacement is a defined cost that belongs in the price.
- Check 06
Zoning, redevelopment potential, and environmental for surface lots
A surface lot is usually land waiting for a use. Its prior history — and downtown lots often sat on former service stations or dry cleaners — determines what a developer will pay later.
Backfill risk
What happens if the tenant leaves
The tenant-goes-dark scenario
Parking does not have a backfill problem in the conventional sense, because there is no single tenant to replace. Operators are a commodity service and a garage or lot with demand can change operators with little friction. What it has instead is a demand problem: the asset is only as good as the buildings around it.
When a major demand generator leaves — an office tenant consolidates, a hospital moves a campus, a team relocates — the parking revenue follows, and no operator can fix it. Monthly contracts tend to leave first and fastest. Medical, event, and courthouse demand tend to be stickier because people have no choice about being there.
Garages carry a second problem that lots do not. They wear out. A garage that has gone years without concrete repair, sealing, and joint replacement accumulates deferred work that eventually exceeds what its income can justify, and at that point the land under it is worth more than the structure. Demolishing a garage is expensive, which makes timing the decision part of the value.
Surface lots are the opposite case: low improvement, low obsolescence, and a land value that frequently exceeds the capitalized parking income. Their backfill is redevelopment, and their risk is mostly a question of when.
Why this matters to you
Every buyer prices the tenant-goes-dark scenario, whether or not they say so out loud. It is the largest hidden input into the cap rate you get offered.
Understanding it before you go to market is the difference between negotiating and being negotiated with.
Who sells to us
Situations we see most often
- Owner facing a structural repair estimate on a garage that has gone a decade without one
- Surface lot owner who has been waiting for the redevelopment moment and is tired of waiting
- Office owner selling the garage separately after the building it served lost tenants
- Estate or family holding a downtown lot bought generations ago
- Owner whose largest monthly contract parker is not renewing
Buy box
What we buy
- 01Parking garages and surface lots, $1M to $40M
- 02Managed or leased to an operator
- 03Garages with deferred structural work
- 04Surface lots held for redevelopment
Process
How selling to Dizposition works
Day 0
01Send us the property
Address, asset type, and the lease if there is one. That is enough for us to start.
- 02
We underwrite it
Our underwriting runs the income against current market pricing and the cost of capital. No lowball anchor.
10 minutes
03You get a firm offer
In 10 minutes, with the math shown. You will know exactly how we got there.
As fast as 30 days
04Close on your timeline
As fast as 30 days, or as slow as you need. We are the principal, so the date is yours.
FAQ
Selling a parking garage
My garage needs structural repairs. Do I have to fix it before selling?
No. Concrete repair is a defined scope once a parking engineer has looked at it, and we would rather price it into the offer than have you fund a project you will not own the benefit of. If you do not have a recent condition assessment, we will commission one.
Should I sell the lot as parking or as development land?
Usually the answer is whichever number is higher, and on a well-located surface lot that is often the land. Parking income can carry a site for years while it waits. We underwrite both and tell you which one is driving the price.
The office building next door lost most of its tenants. What does that do to my garage?
It depends on how concentrated your revenue was. Monthly contracts tied to one building can disappear quickly; transient, medical, and event demand tends to hold. We look at the revenue by segment rather than the total.
My operator runs the garage under a management agreement. Does that transfer?
Management agreements are usually short and terminable, so a buyer can keep the operator or replace them. A long operator lease is different — it conveys with the property and the buyer inherits its terms.
How long does it take to sell a commercial property to Dizposition?
You get a firm written offer within 10 minutes of sending us the property. If you accept, you can close in as little as 30 days — most of that is title work and your own timeline. There is no listing period, no marketing, and no waiting on a buyer's financing contingency.
Can I sell my property as-is?
Yes. We are the buyer, so there is no lender requiring repairs and no inspection contingency to renegotiate against you. Deferred maintenance, a failing roof, an aging tank system — we price it into the offer rather than asking you to fix it first.
Can I sell with a tenant in place?
Yes, and in most cases a tenant makes the property more valuable to us, not less. We will ask for the lease, a rent roll, and any estoppel certificates. You do not need to deliver the property vacant.
What if my lease is short-term or about to expire?
Short remaining term is one of the main reasons owners come to us. A conventional buyer needs lease term to get financing, which is why short-dated assets sit on the market. We underwrite the real estate and the backfill prospects rather than the remaining term alone.
What if the property is vacant?
We buy vacant assets. Pricing shifts from an income approach to what the building and land are worth to the next user, which is a different calculation — but it is one we do routinely rather than one that disqualifies the property.
Do I need a broker to sell to you?
No. We buy directly, and there is no commission because there is nothing to market. If you already have a broker, we will pay them. Selling without one saves the commission, but you should understand you are also giving up price discovery — a broker's job is to find out whether someone will pay more than we will.
What documents do I need to get an offer?
The address and the lease are enough to start. To finalize, we will want the rent roll, the last two years of operating statements, the title commitment, any existing survey, and any environmental reports you already have. You do not need an appraisal or a broker package.
How do you determine your offer?
We underwrite in-place income against what the space would re-lease for, adjust for capital needs and any environmental tail, and apply a cap rate supported by comparable transactions. We show you the inputs. If you disagree with an assumption, we would rather argue about the assumption than about the number.
What are typical seller closing costs?
Title and escrow fees, any transfer or recording tax owed in your state, prorated property taxes, and payoff of any existing debt. Because we are the buyer, there is no commission and no marketing cost. Transfer tax varies significantly by state and is often the largest single line.
Will I owe capital gains tax when I sell?
Usually yes, on the gain above your adjusted basis, and depreciation recapture is taxed separately from appreciation. State treatment varies. This is a question for your CPA before you sign, not after — the structure of the sale can change the answer.
Can I do a 1031 exchange?
Yes. A 1031 exchange lets you defer federal capital gains by reinvesting in like-kind property, subject to a 45-day identification window and a 180-day closing window from the date you sell. You must have a qualified intermediary in place before closing — it cannot be arranged afterward. Most states conform to federal treatment, but a few do not.
Can I sell if I am behind on payments or facing foreclosure?
Yes, and speed is the reason to move early rather than late. We can close on a defined date, which is what a lender or a receiver generally needs to see. Send us the payoff figure and any notices you have received.
Can I sell a property I inherited or that is in probate?
Yes. Probate sales take longer because the court timeline governs, not ours, and multiple heirs need to agree on the price before anything can close. We are used to working around both. Inherited property also generally receives a stepped-up basis, which can change the tax math substantially.
What if there is environmental contamination?
Send it anyway. Environmental history is one of the most common reasons a conventional sale falls apart, and it is one of the reasons owners call us. We price the remediation and the residual liability into the offer rather than walking away at the Phase II.
Is there any cost or obligation to get an offer?
None. There is no fee, no listing agreement, and no obligation to accept. If our number does not work for you, you keep the underwriting we showed you and we part ways.
Markets
Top markets we buy parking garages & lots in
Where the inventory is
12,189 U.S. establishments · Parking lots and garages
- 01Sell a parking garage in California2,726
- 02Sell a parking garage in New York1,479
- 03Sell a parking garage in Florida1,014
- 04Sell a parking garage in Texas682
- 05Sell a parking garage in Massachusetts601
- 06Sell a parking garage in Illinois539
- 07Sell a parking garage in Ohio449
- 08Sell a parking garage in Pennsylvania380
- 09Sell a parking garage in Georgia372
- 10Sell a parking garage in Maryland266
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, NAICS 812930, 2023
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10-minute offer
Ready to sell your parking garage?
Send us the property and the lease. You'll have a firm offer, with the math shown, in 10 minutes.


