Stadium parking questions

Submitted by Blue in Paradise on

Two quick questions for the board regarding parking for football games.  I typically park near Pioneer or on the golf course but curious about parking closer to the stadium.

If you want to park in one of the neighborhood driveways for a game (let's say close to a stadium entrance):

1. How much does it normally cost?

2. How long before the game do those generally fill up?

 

Thanks!

carolina blue

May 22nd, 2017 at 10:03 PM ^

$10-$15, but generally $20 and it gets higher as you get closer of course. As far as when to get there, id say no later than 2.5 hrs prior to kickoff.

The Fugitive

May 22nd, 2017 at 10:07 PM ^

if it says easy out, it's a lie, don't fall for it. the closer you park, the longer it takes to leave.

I pay approximatley $0 to park each year because I don't mind walking a couple extra blocks. I'm usually on 94 easily within 20-30 minutes after the game being done.

Blue in Paradise

May 23rd, 2017 at 10:49 AM ^

The other guy said that.  I was just pointing out that it is kind of irrelevant unless you plan to leave the game early to beat traffic.  Someone selling you on that point is telling a half truth unless they also mention that you will move 5 feet in the first hour of traffic.

Anyway, who cares?  We are arguing semantics so time to move on.

Zoltanrules

May 23rd, 2017 at 10:52 AM ^

Anyone who has been to more than one game knows that 110,000 people leaving almost at once in Ann Arbor with it smaller city infrastructure is likely to have some delays regardless of where they park. Being stuck behind a parked car in a lot can be a real problem of a whole different level.

For those that park in the area under discussion don't go down state street to get to the Stadium, go down South Industrial right into the West End Burns Park Neighborhoods.  If you are leaving towards Detroit, take Packard to Stadium which turns into Washtenaw, and get on US 23 to either M-14 or I-94.

NRK

May 22nd, 2017 at 10:10 PM ^

It really depends on how "close" you want to be. If you're talking under a 5 minute walk, expect to pay $40+. The number generally drops as you get further away down to about $20.

I think the really expensive spots don't tend to fill up as quickly from what I can tell, but I'm not the best judge of that due to my parking situation.

Blue in Paradise

May 22nd, 2017 at 10:18 PM ^

to buy a rental house and a place on Granger (1 house down from State Street - so less than 50 yards from the stadium gate) went up for sale.  I am trying to model the parking revenue into my margin analysis. 

It wouldn't be an "easy out" since State Street will back up, but at least you won't get stuck in the neighborhood.  I am hoping we can get $50 + per spot.

There is a place on Woodlawn, another 60-70 yards away, but that is is the middle of the neighborhood.  I am guess that might be in the $20-40 range.

 

Blue in Paradise

May 23rd, 2017 at 1:26 AM ^

You are right about the ask price (and that is AFTER they dropped the price $35,000). Not to mention the property tax is a killer. We will go in way below the ask and see what happens. The seller may tell us to eff ourselves. The house on Woodlawn is a better value. What do you think about this? You buy up a bunch of houses on that block and renovate them for short term, premium short term rentals. Big draw would be football games of course, but there are the other sports, graduation, plus other Ann Arbor / Detroit events. You may even be able to get some business travelers. I did some research on AirBnb and they have short term rentals listed that cover a year of student rent just from football weekends.

Still in AA

May 23rd, 2017 at 8:52 AM ^

I have a rental house close to the stadium and I've thought about doing AirBnb vs. a longer term lease.  So far I've only done longer term leases but the short term potential is a good fall back option to have.  I've talked to a few friends that have rental homes in the area and some of the problems with the short term rentals include the cost to clean the property after each rental, the quick turnaround time (if someone is leaving in the morning and someone else is renting the place that afternoon) and having to furnish the property.

Blue in Paradise

May 23rd, 2017 at 10:54 AM ^

I have been doing my own research on AirBnB and it seems like in gross dollar terms, the rental income from the 7 football games each year can equal the entire year of student rent (crazy but true).  Of course, this is an economic bet on Harbaugh and the football program remaining in the top 10 over the next decade.  (A bet I feel good about).

The question is whether non-football events and general demand are high enough to justify the added investment and cost of a short-term rental.  I don't know of any way to measure that.

My gut tells me that it won't work if you are the only short term rental in a neighborhood of studend housing (I wouldn't take my family there).  However, if you can create a cluster and make it a "thing" to rent a house near the stadium for the games, then this could be huge.

Zoltanrules

May 23rd, 2017 at 11:54 AM ^

This is why my kids have had their proms there, we had a couple big soccer matches (none this year), and the outdoor hockey games. All of these have run their course. Count on 7 big possible pay days, really more like 4 or 5, since no one will spend huge bucks on Rutgers or local opponents such as Western Michigan.

 

 

Zoltanrules

May 23rd, 2017 at 9:34 AM ^

Homes in that area are sold before they hit the market and even then you are betting on the home value and rents continuing to escalate often to justify the price (unless your objective is to lose money).

7 football games a year don't really make or break an investment here (especially with only 4 spots max). Student rentals are the definitely best usage of the property. It's pretty easy to calculate your cash flow knowing the income rent , what your mortgage, taxes, water and sewer (expensive in A2), insurance, maintenance, etc are. The mortgage and taxes alone will likeky eat up all the rent in this case.

As a side, the parking that neighborhood was $15 to $20 during the Hoke era, now is $25 average. MSU and OSU will be more this year. Since the athletic campus spread down south state there are lots of athletes that live in that area. Most are polite, work their butts off training, but do put more "wear and tear" on the houses. 

The most important think in being a landlord in A2 is do you have the stomach for dealing with the day to day issues. If you care about your property and tenants there will be constant time constraints, often at odd hours. Either you must live 15 minutes from your investment because you will need to be there often or hire a management company for another 10% of your income. If you do it yourself, often needed unless you have many  properties, be prepared to deal with the city of A2. Inspections every two years with changing codes often result in plenty of expenses that are frustrating to deal with. 

It can work, but the numbers of 702 Granger look to be way off . Sometimes the best investments you make are the ones you don't make.

Blue in Paradise

May 23rd, 2017 at 10:44 AM ^

but is do honestly apprectiate the feedback, which is really good.

I am in the real estate finance industry so I more than get the economics behind this.  The reason that we are looking at campus area rentals is that we want a hedge against a recession.  There are very few bargains near universities but the cash flow is consistent and you need to pay for the minimized volatility.  I also have a long term view around future economic growth patterns where I think you will need to be near a tech or education center - but that is for another time.

My clients already have commercial and high-end residential exposure which have done fantastic over that the last 5 years now.  However, we know that those will get crushed as soon as the next downturn hits, and given how long this expansion has been going, it may not be too long from now.

The plan with the campus properties is to eventually turn this into a private equity fund diverisified across "premier" universities around the U.S. but we need to understand the operational side of the business when dealing with student rentals.  So we want to do something with our own money first in an area that we know.

As far as 702 Granger, one of the other factors for that neighborhood are the advent of "cost of attendance" stipends for student athletes - which I believe are just a first step towards actual salaries for the revenue sports athletes.  This is a game changer in this area of campus.  Lastly, there has been creeping in from single family neighborhood coming down from Upper Burns Park. 

However, despite all of that, I agree with you 100% that the numbers are off on this one.  Sellers probably just testing the waters to see if someone will take a bite at a huge number.  They will either keep dropping until they get to the market price, or just hold until the market comes up to hit their price - depends on their situation.

 

Zoltanrules

May 23rd, 2017 at 11:20 AM ^

There are no short term bargains in central campus unless you have some sort of personal connection to the previous owner. Properties like this one are offered at high prices ($535k) by word of mouth before they are listed on MLS and often they unbelievably do sell despite poor numbers. I have property VERY close by and was offered several months ago but declined as the numbers were crazy bad. There is also some sweat equity needed. The house was not up to code not that long ago.

Your dipping the toe in the water to understand this unique market is a good idea in your investment situation and certainly RE here is a good diversification strategy. For a small time, short term, investor it may not be. Learning on the job can be very frustrating and expensive!

There is also a whole new level of out of state student going to UM. Their parents pay $50k/year and face it they are upper class who want the $1000/mo per br apartments with all the amenities that most adults don't enjoy. There are several new big apartments that cater to this crowd and more are on the way increasing the supply of units available. For now landlords have low vacancies (especially properties that show well) but that could change.

Also I see a real need for the football team to have their own UM luxury housing to not only "compensate" them better but more importantly to keep an eye on the few that definitely need it. It's a total business and the players are the university's investment and marketing tool. Stephen Ross towers coming soon,lol.

Zoltanrules

May 23rd, 2017 at 1:20 PM ^

This would just be an extension of that. Athletes have their own special training centers, meal plans, and study center complete with free tutors. They are allowed a stipend to pay for their other expenses if they live off campus. This would just replace that.

Most campuses have special dorms for students in simlar areas of study. Why not for football players? Football under Harbaugh is now a 12 month a year job for the players (wasn't that way before) so a convenient nice housing situation makes sense.  The main reason though would be to keep an eye on the players to help them stay on the straight and narrow academically, financially and socially.

The NCAA is such a stupid and hypocritical orgainzation this will never happen until the players threaten with a union or something forces their hand to get with the times.

Zoltanrules

May 23rd, 2017 at 11:41 AM ^

Perhaps they tried the same thing you are considering and realized the numbers don't work? On the surface it is relatively better but you need to dig much deeper to verify their numbers (there's a reason it is known as the liar's sheet).

At 440K your taxes will approach $9 - $10K and you get practically nothing for it from the city. In fact just the opposite.. as an example, the city just put in a rule that you need to shovel their sidewalks within 24 hours or else you will be fined. So factor in a decent management/maintenance cost to your other costs.

 

 

Zoltanrules

May 23rd, 2017 at 5:37 PM ^

in fines. One can read all the details:

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2015/09/new_rules_for_sidewalk_snow_re.html

the not so funny part is that the city doesn't have anywhere near the same standards to plow its own streets, so sidewalks are often clean and the roads to cross are nearly impassable.

My point is to any prospective landlord is to budget $500 per snow season to have a contractor be on top of it. Probably more since landlords are required to salt when icy.

JetFuelForBreakfast

May 22nd, 2017 at 10:23 PM ^

...for FREE right across from Alice Lloyd just down from MoJo adjacent to Central Campus kiddy corner from South Campus and the stadium...stay for the whole game...mill around...cut right across South and Central Campus almost to MedCamp and we're right outta there! Sure there's a "couple" 'Daddy, How much farthers?' along the way but it's cheap, we're right out after we get back to the car, and the kid thinks EVERYTHING else we walk to is a quick walk...

julesh

May 22nd, 2017 at 11:03 PM ^

For those who don't mind walking, the street parking around the Woodbury Gardens complex is free, and usually available until a couple hours before the game, unless we are talking about like homecoming or a rivalry game. It's at Stadium and South Industrial, so you basically just have to walk over the bridge and you are ready to tailgate.

Jasper

May 23rd, 2017 at 7:11 AM ^

Echoing some others here, I usually aim for a free spot that's north and generally east of the stadium (Burns Park).

Afterward, it's an easy out (of *Ann Arbor*) because most of the traffic is headed south either on Ann Arbor Saline or State.

Yo_Blue

May 23rd, 2017 at 7:31 AM ^

The Burns Park area is terrible - nasty neighbors, no parking, vandelism, OSU grads, Sparties, etc.  Stay away from there.  Please!

OK, OK, that's where I park.  I don't want this "hidden gem" to become too popular.  My only complaint about the area is the Burns Elementary folks.  They used to allow parking in their lot but last year chained it off.  This is a lot that holds about 100 cars and it is sitting empty.  They tried selling parking as a fund raiser but it wasn't worth their time since nobody that far away wants to pay.  Now it just sits empty as a big F U to fans.  Maybe I'll get around to writing the nasty letter I planned to write last year.

Chalky White

May 23rd, 2017 at 10:19 AM ^

I had a coworker win tickets to a game in a drawing. We were able to find a shuttle from the Holiday Inn at US-23 at the Plymouth Rd exit for just a couple of bucks. You may have to buy tickets online in advance. From what I hear, it was an easy in and out.

tdoolittle

October 20th, 2017 at 5:42 PM ^

My son and I are making our first trip to the Big house from Alabama for the OSU game. We will probably be coming in from the West - Kalmazoo area. What time should we expect to be in AA to find parking? I only ask because I expect the OSU game to be a bigger turnout that most other games. 

I would like my son (18) to have a good experience. Are there somethings that are a must do before or after the game? 

 

Thanks for any advice.