Car parking bays in capital cities are slowly going the way of the Dodo bird.
But at a time when the population of City dwellers increases to unprecedented levels. As a consequence, the spaces that are available are worth a whole lot more and the cost of using them is also entering the stratosphere.
In Sydney and Melbourne, being the two most populated states, the number of parking bays are being purposely restricted, as the respective City councils look to "de congest" the main city roads of cars to allow more pedestrian traffic.
In turn, as the infrastructure also changes, car lanes are being replaced by cycle lanes.
The idea being, the cities operate more like Europe, with promenades, cafes and outdoor relaxing zones - all the while still being functional 21st century business hubs.
As each new office block and nowadays, new residential towers open in the central business districts, the basements contain a few parking bays, with the remaining space being allocated to what is termed "end of trip" facilities - showers, lockers and bicycle racks.
In fact, landlords now sell the area as a 'feature' in much the same way air conditioning was added into the property in the 1960s.
According to the latest research from Colliers International and Parking & Traffic Consultants, The Evolution of Car Parking, Sydney and Melbourne CBDs have the lowest ratio of car parks per 100 workers, at 12.2 and 14.2 respectively.
This is evidenced by the $6 billion Barangaroo South project in Sydney, where there will be more than 28,000 workers, residents and visitors daily, but only about 600 parking bays are being built.
Buildings nearby the site that have car parks are now holding a "bidding" war among the many new tenants wanting car parks.
The same is occurring in Melbourne, where new areas like Docklands have a lower number of car parking bays.
Nora Farren, Colliers International director of research, said Sydney CBD has one of the highest non-discounted median daily parking rates at $70.85. This is up from $54.50 in 2009. Brisbane is second at $69.03 and Melbourne third at $63.61 per bay.
"There are no new stand-alone car parking stations currently proposed in any of our CBDs," Ms Farren said.
"The supply of new car parking spaces in our CBDs is minimal. Sydney CBD parking has only increased by 766 car parks since 2007, while in Melbourne, the increase has been about 2.6 per cent to an average 41,000 bays over the past five years," Ms Farren said.
"Across the country, several existing car parking stations are being demolished to make way for apartment and office developments, which is adding to the limited future supply."
For those investors wanting to buy a car parking property, they will need deep pockets.
Ms Farren said the most recent car park to trade was 20-28 LaTrobe Street, Melbourne for $17.5 million in October 2014. Containing 706 car spaces, this represented a rate of $27,787 per space. In January 2014, the car park at 300 Flinders Street, Melbourne sold for $40 million with 574 bays, representing an average $69,686 per bay.
The Sydney Opera House car park was sold in December 2013 for $80 million, containing 1176 bays representing a rate of $68,027 per space.
Further alienating drivers, the City of Sydney aims to reduce the provision of new parking spaces by 50 per cent by 2030.
In the latest development plans for the $200 million redevelopment of the City Tattersalls Club in Pitt Street, Sydney to add a hotel and apartments, the proposed number of car bays has been cut in half to about 50 only.
Michael Cook, group executive, Investa Property Group, says landlords are adapting to the change and providing highly-sophisticated facilities for workers that cycle or walk to work.
He said recently that at Investa's proposed new development at 151 Clarence Street, 160 Car parking spaces are going to be replaced by 42 car parking spaces.
