Rob, President and Co-Founder of Buccini Pollin Group, describes how the implementation of AirGarage's technology has significantly improved their parking operations, resulting in a 20% increase in revenues across all garages.
Before AirGarage, their operations lacked the ability to track daily insights, leading to inefficiencies like unused parking badges and outdated technologies that caused delays.
The transition to a gateless parking system, though initially met with hesitation, has been a major success, enhancing user satisfaction and operational efficiency.
The seamless integration of the system has made it easier for tenants to use, while management now benefits from better revenue tracking and pricing strategies.
Rob: Since the beginning of the year, when we fully implemented the strategy and the technology with AirGarage, our revenues are up across all of our garages by approximately 20%. We had no daily insight before, so we couldn't track revenue, same-store sales, or compare prior months and weeks. Our operations were just deficient. We did an in-depth analysis of our entire parking portfolio—thousands and thousands of parkers—and with AirGarage, we were able to figure out what our true rent roll was.
Hi, I'm Rob, President and Co-Founder of Buccini Pollin Group.
Stacey: I'm Stacey Brooks, a Senior Commercial Property Manager in Wilmington, Delaware.
Rob: We're a nationwide real estate development and investment firm.
Stacey: We invest in all types of asset classes and manage office buildings, retail spaces, and garages.
Rob: Parking is one of the fundamental business components in our mixed-use projects, especially in our office portfolio. The prior operator had not been able to account properly for what cars were still parking. We realized that we had dozens and dozens of parking badges that were out and not being used, some of which were being charged inappropriately. We used to have the old school arms, and we had a lot of stacking up at the exit due to the time it took to process payments. The prior technologies were slow to read the license plate and then open the gate. At the end of the day on a Friday, everybody wants to get home.
One of the biggest challenges we have is people bumping into a gate - the cost to replace or fix a gate, along with the downtime and backup when there’s an issue, is significant. I was very hesitant initially to remove the gates from all of our properties, but I was wrong. When I told our team that we were going to gateless technology, their spirits immediately lifted.
Stacey: I think the gateless system is fantastic. The tenants have given nothing but positive feedback. Everything has transitioned so seamlessly for them that they’re elated. The experience of driving through, parking your car, and then leaving without the hassle of searching for a ticket or a credit card is a huge improvement.
Rob: People love the app and the payment system. There's no issue at all with using their phone to scan a QR code in the stair tower.
Stacey: The directions are clear, and it's easy for everyone to maneuver through the garage and pay.
Rob: It’s now one of the biggest selling features we have in our parking garage portfolio, giving us an added value when marketing against our competitors. The dashboard technology you all have allows us to read daily receipts, which is helpful for comparing our performance during the month against the budget. It’s very important because we can then implement better pricing strategies, and our transient revenue has been better than we expected right out of the gate—pardon the pun.
Stacey: AirGarage has brought nothing but pure joy since the start. The cleaning crew, they talk to me, they send me notes saying, "Hey, we noticed some graffiti, we're going to get on it, but we wanted to mention it to you." Who does that? The guys doing my windows—I don't think the windows have ever been done before. I was shocked, but it was so awesome.
Rob: The garages are now best in class. When they’re clean, well-lit, and have well-designed signs throughout, it makes a difference. It just makes you feel better about your parking experience.
Stacey: The comments from tenants are amazing—they feel great, it smells great, looks great, and feels safe. Anytime we’ve had an issue, Brian and the AirGarage team have been very responsive. You treat the garages like you own them.
Stacey: it’s like having another person with eyes and ears on the property. Personally, I've never worked with a better vendor. The AirGarage team, from the beginning, has been so open and easy to communicate with. The response time is incredibly quick. When we made the switch, you all were unbelievable in terms of showing up—I think the whole AirGarage company was there
Stacey: People introducing themselves, checking on us day-to-day, talking to tenants, and interacting with parkers. They were visible, wearing gear that identified them, so no one was wondering who was looking in their car—they knew it was someone from AirGarage.
Everything was done seamlessly, and the entire time, the process was communicated to us. We were informed who was going to be on-site each day and what was happening. There was a lot of involvement from ownership, and we have a really nice day-to-day relationship with the AirGarage team.
Rob: At the end of the day, you care. The fact that you all are so engaged, work so hard, and are so diligent is important. You all have a passion for the business, and that, combined with your exceptional technology, is a great recipe for success.
As the markets are stabilizing, we’re now looking at how to get incremental revenue and how to use daily revenue management to maximize our revenue during peak times. We believe our revenue will be the highest it's ever been.
Stacey: I think we just finally found a match. I've been in the industry for 25 years, and AirGarage has mastered managing garage systems.
Rob: Parkers are happy, garages are clean, and our guest satisfaction scores are very high right now. This allows us to rent more apartments, lease more office space, and helps the restaurants do better. The better the restaurants do, the more restaurants and coffee shops open up. It's a virtuous cycle that all begins and ends with parking. And ends with parking at the end of the day.
