Councils don’t need to own car park buildings

The Herald reports:

Property developers say Auckland Council-owned carparks are perfect sites for new office or apartment buildings, with many in key central locations bound to benefit from the City Rail Link now under construction.

Michael Holloway, Property Council Auckland branch president, welcomed analysis from the Auckland Council, which used the $95.2m Downtown carpark to make a case for sales.

That analysis, prepared in December last year, questioned the council carpark ownership with a finance expert saying “unsolicited offers” had been made for valuable parking buildings.

However, the council said this morning it was not actively pursuing the sale of any of its parking buildings.

It should.

There is no need for Councils to own carpark buildings. They are commercial enterprises and locations and prices for carpark buildings are best set by demand.