Dedicated parking not optimal for Clarendon Trader Joe's

Parking

Dedicated parking not optimal for Clarendon Trader Joe's

by Rob Pitingolo • September 22, 2010 12:50 pm

Excitement is building around the arrival of Trader Joe's in the heart of Clarendon. Before they move in, the grocery chain wants Arlington County to guarantee reserved parking spaces. But handing over free dedicated spaces isn't the only option.

Construction at Clarendon Center. Photo by author.

Last week ARLnow confirmed the long-standing rumor that Trader Joe's is interested in occupying retail space in the brand-new Clarendon Center mixed-used development. When construction is complete, the new development will contain residential and office space, ground floor retail, and will be located literally steps away from the entrance of the Clarendon Metro.

Trader Joe's knows that their store would be a welcome addition to the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, and they're using parking as their bargaining chip with Arlington County. Rebecca A. Cooper reports that Trader Joe's submitted a site amendment to the County, requesting up to 72 dedicated parking on the first two floors of the Clarendon Center garage. These spaces were originally intended to be available to the paying public.

The grocery business is, understandably, more parking intensive than other types of retail. People may be inclined to walk, bike, or take Metro or a cab when visiting Clarendon's bars and restaurants, or even when shopping at one of the many stores. By its nature, grocery shopping often requires hauling around heavy bags of food.

Of course there will always be people who drive everywhere, and others who do all their grocery shopping on foot or by bike. And there are perfectly reasonable people who want to take a car with them grocery shopping because it's the easiest way to carry everything home.

Clarendon is a dense urban neighborhood. Applying a parking model that works at suburban shopping centers isn't necessary. Trader Joe's needs parking spaces, but reserved spaces aren't the only option available.

Arlington County and Trader Joe's should explore a few alternatives:

Parking Validation. Assuming the Clarendon Center parking garage is to be a privately operated and utilize a "pay by the hour" system, validation would allow Trader Joe's customers to share spaces in the garage with the paying public.

Shoppers would have their parking ticket validated at the register for a free or reduced parking rate for the first 60, 90 or 120 minutes. A number of urban grocery stores the region already use this system. During peak hours, shoppers at the Clarendon Whole Foods can have their ticket validated at one of the nearby parking garages.

Meter Enforced Spaces. If the garage instead utilizes meters, spaces closest to the Trader Joe's could be configured to allow a button press for the first 30 or 60 minutes free; and a fixed rate for additional time. Spaces farther from Trader Joes but closer to the entrance of the garage could be set at a fixed rate at all times.

High Turnover Enforcement. Alternatively, meters could be used to enforce high turnover at the spaces closest to Trader Joe's. A button press would allow each vehicle to be parked 60 or so minutes while the driver shops. After 60 minutes the meter would expire and the vehicle would have to be moved. A similar system is already in place at the Harris Teeter garage on Capitol Hill.

Trader Joe's request for such a large number of dedicated parking spaces is arguably the result of a messy parking situation down the street at Whole Foods, which has 71 dedicated spaces in its lot. There are a few notable differences, however. Trader Joe's is set to occupy significantly less retail space (12,000 square feet at Trader Joe's versus over 30,000 square feet at Whole Foods) and the garage at Clarendon Center could more easily accommodate any parking overflow during peak shopping periods.

Granting reserved parking to individual retail stores often leads to an inefficient over-allocation of spaces. Trader Joe's has better options available in Clarendon, and they should use one or more of them.

32 comments

Tags: Arlington, Clarendon, parking, Virginia

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Why should the most convenient parking spaces also be free? (Oct 8, 2009)

Rob Pitingolo moved to the DC area in mid-2010 and currently resides on Capitol Hill. He also writes about issues of urbanism, economics, transportation and politics at his blog, Extraordinary Observations.

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TJ is not asking for free spaces. You should do your research before posting a foolish article.

The garage is privately owned and will be privately operated.

Also, a TJ would not survive without customers outside of a 1 mile radius (and that's even stretching it with regards to walking with groceries.)

by Steve on Sep 22, 2010 1:04 pm • link • report

Rob, thanks for the thoughtful post. Seems like there could be a more flexible middle ground that would still allay TJ's concerns about parking, and you bring up a number of good options.

by Chris on Sep 22, 2010 1:30 pm • link • report

To Steve: Perhaps you missed this portion of the article you overreactionary zilch: "Assuming the Clarendon Center parking garage is to be a privately operated and utilize a "pay by the hour" system, validation would allow Trader Joe's customers to share spaces in the garage with the paying public."

by South County on Sep 22, 2010 1:40 pm • link • report

Steve, please read more carefully before posting half-baked accusations. Or don't post at all.

by Crabhands on Sep 22, 2010 1:45 pm • link • report

Folks, I look forward to the debate, but please don't attack other commenters with ad hominem attacks. "You overreactionary zilch" is not necessary. Neither is "You should do your research before posting a foolish article" an appropriate attack. If the poster, or another commenter, is incorrect, please politely and calmly explain why. Thank you!

by David Alpert on Sep 22, 2010 1:46 pm • link • report

Correct me if I am wrong, but the Old Town TJs doesn't have 72 dedicated parking spaces. They do validate, but nothing reserved.

by RJ on Sep 22, 2010 1:49 pm • link • report

@ Crabhands; if you applied that rule to the original authors, rather than commentators, I'd be down for that.

Parking as a bargaining chip? Hmm. I don't see them "bargaining" over the parking issue -- they seem to want more parking.

And isn't that the Shoupian position: if business want more parking, they will pay for it. TJ will pay for it, the consumer does not.

And their "dedicated" parking is two levels, one of which will be open to the public during the day.

WF, by the way, does not share their parking with anyone. Either in the lot -- wasted space, in my view -- or in their dedicated parking in the garage.

I think the argument against TJ getting parking space is those blocks are already a mess b/c of Clarendon Commons and WF. Too many cars, and WF turns into a parking jam quickly.

by charlie on Sep 22, 2010 1:51 pm • link • report

Just for comparison's sake, does anyone know how much parking is available to the TJs in Foggy Bottom?

by Mike B on Sep 22, 2010 2:13 pm • link • report

@ RJ ; any parking being offered by TJ in Clarendon will also have to be validated -- it is in a shared parking lot. What they are asking for in one additional floor be reserved for them evenings and weekend.

by charlie on Sep 22, 2010 2:19 pm • link • report

TJ @ Foggy Bottom has a different crowd. They have 10,000 undergrad students at GW who have no cars.

They have a dedicated level of parking on one level. Maybe 30 spots. There is a wait from outside the garage after 5pm on weeknights for a spot.

by Steve on Sep 22, 2010 2:19 pm • link • report

How is Trader Joes (Clarendon) proposing to enforce the "dedicated" spaces? Will they be hiring a parking garage monitor and towing cars of people who don't start their shopping trip at TJs? What about people who walk through the Trader Joes to get out of the building and onto Highland? That sounds expensive to Trader Joes and not very likely to work, anyway. Wouldn't a validation system be easier for them and even their customers?

by Curious George on Sep 22, 2010 2:29 pm • link • report

Someone should tell TJs about the near-empty Target parking garage in Columbia Heights.

by Vicente Fox on Sep 22, 2010 2:32 pm • link • report

@Curious George; exactly. Which is why this entire article is a waste. They wlll use validated parking, and the second level will be open for the pubic during the day.

I'm just glad the county had to deal with the Shoupian nonsense of eliminating regulations. They is plenty of underground parking -- for the public, for the office tenants, and for a popular grocery store.

by charlie on Sep 22, 2010 2:36 pm • link • report

I honestly don't get TJ's harping over this. A lot of people walk to the WF in Clarendon, and I'm sure it will be pretty similar with the TJ's crowd. And who cares if the spots are marked as dedicated as TJ's or not. I've never seen parking enforcement in the garage under Pottery Barn where WF has some "dedicated" spaces. I often park in one of the non-WF dedicated spots in that garage when I drive to WF, so it's not a big deal. If the garage has an elevator, who cares? At this point, it's sounding like driving in the Clarendon area is going to get a lot worse, which will probably drive [pun intended!] more of the immediate locals to simply walking to TJ's anyways.

by Janel on Sep 22, 2010 2:39 pm • link • report

Trader Joes in Old Town has validated parking right by the entrance. There is also shared retail on the upper level, which you enter off of one of the side streets. It does not have an attendant, and you don't take a ticket or need validation. I never park in the validated area, since I find it easier and quicker just to park in the other retail parking, and take my groceries up the steps in that center plaza. There is also street parking, which is frequently available. So really, there are many different possibilities for parking at the Alexandria TJ.

by spookiness on Sep 22, 2010 2:48 pm • link • report

Everything has its price. TJ's wants dedicated spaces? Fine, they can open their wallet. Going daily rate for garage space in Claredon is around $30. $30 per day x 72 spots x 30 days per month = $64,800 per month. They can tack it on top of their lease. Otherwise, they can validate just like all the other businesses in the area do.

by smoke_jaguar4 on Sep 22, 2010 4:00 pm • link • report

Ack! I fat fingered the daily parking rate. It should be $10, and the monthly amount $21,600 /failed accountant

by smoke_jaguar4 on Sep 22, 2010 4:04 pm • link • report

@smoke_jaguar4; You missed the issue. It isn't about paying. TJ is more than willing to pay. What they want is reserving the second floor of the garage for exclusive use of their customers during nights and weekends.

by charlie on Sep 22, 2010 4:07 pm • link • report

The Whole Foods in Clarendon has dedicated parking and it makes the entire block around it a clusterf*uck. People drive there because there is parking when many could easily walk. Its always packed, and on weekends they have to employ at least a couple parking attendants to herd cars. It makes it really stick out in an otherwise pleasant pedestrian neighborhood.

by Tom M on Sep 22, 2010 5:00 pm • link • report

Whatever they do will have to be better than the Whole Foods mess, that creates a 2-block back-up in the left lane of Clarendon Blvd from people forcing themselves into a full lot. This is the case, mind you, even with validated parking available in the garage across the street.

by OX4 on Sep 22, 2010 5:01 pm • link • report

I am not sure that I totally understand the concern around trader joe's parking request. Having an additional grocer is a far better tenant for Clarendon than an additional pizza joint or bar...particularily for the locals (note - I live three blocks from the proposed store: people are more than welcome to park on my block - better that than the drunk visitors to our neck of the woods yelling and ripping out the plants in our front yards).

Getting TJs into that space should be a no-brainer and should not limited by "new urbanism" mantras such as quoting what does and does not work at "suburban shopping centers" without data or support.

Perhaps the author of the post should gain some real world experiance (note: congraluations on your 2010 graduation with a BS) prior to slamming a perfectly reasonable request by a very well known, respected tenant and a respected local developer who by all apperances is developing something in Clarendon Center that works visually and within the confines of the location.

by Mark H on Sep 22, 2010 5:03 pm • link • report

Being dismissive of a contributor because of his or her age is a tactic that is not welcome on Greater Greater Washington. We have people of all ages and we want to create a welcoming place for everyone to weigh in with their ideas.

If you thin ideas are wrong, we strongly encourage people to discuss and debate the issues in comments. Contributors read the comments and often learn from them if they are persuasive.

However, trying to discredit someone because of simply their background is not appropriate. I've deleted another comment that went further in terms of talking about Rob's resume.

We think Rob has useful ideas to contribute, which is why we invited him to post here. Please move the debate away from the background of the contributors and toward the merits of their arguments.

by David Alpert on Sep 22, 2010 5:29 pm • link • report

>>"The Whole Foods in Clarendon has dedicated parking and it makes the entire block around it a clusterf*uck. People drive there because there is parking when many could easily walk."
I know a Clarendon resident who lives about 4 blocks away from the Whole Foods. He and his neighbors often walk to Whole Foods especially at peak hours. They don't want to deal with the parking congestion. But many Whole Foods customers live much further away. In some cases they'll drive past two Giants and a Safeway that are closer to their home because they prefer the Whole Foods product. Whole Foods is a destination grocer not a purely neighborhood grocer. To some extent Trader Joes is as well.

by Paul on Sep 22, 2010 5:33 pm • link • report

Dedicated parking should always be looked at extremely carefully. Occasionally it can be necessary, but usually it leads to inefficient use of space and oversupply of neighborhood parking, which equates to a subsidy that drives up costs for everyone.

It is conceivable that dedicated parking can work in this environment, but it would be irresponsible to assume so without considering alternatives.

This is an entirely reasonable topic for Rob, or anyone, to bring up. Good post.

by BeyondDC on Sep 22, 2010 5:48 pm • link • report

@BeyondDC; please, be clear

Dedicated parking is already part of the proposed lease deal. The only question is moving another floor to TJ parking on nights and weekends. So it isn't a question of purity -- should there be any dedicated parking -- but a question of how much.

by charlie on Sep 22, 2010 6:38 pm • link • report

I'd love it if the WF would bring back the valet parking. That was a nice perk, which I always used when available.
I suspect it would require too many attendants to make it work with the current level of traffic, though.

by Steve O on Sep 23, 2010 1:26 am • link • report

wasn't there a famous situation in Clarendon years ago when Home Depot was turned away because they demanded a certain amount of parking and that was deemed incompatible with the whole "urban village" concept that Clarendon was going for? What's the difference between then and now?

by hohandy on Sep 23, 2010 9:26 am • link • report

Retailers often need to be given a push to 'reformat' their standard layouts for non-suburban environments, so I'm not bothered by giving TJ's some resistance here. Note, though, that the small size of TJ stores compared to Whole Foods stores isn't a good argument for less parking at TJ's-- the two grocers have quite different retail strategies, TJ's stores are all relatively small but high-traffic.

by MattF on Sep 23, 2010 10:45 am • link • report

Why is "people who consume parking paying for parking" seemingly off the table (or am I missing something)? I think Shirlington would be a lot better off if it charged for parking at the peak times. The place is a mass of cars fighting over free parking and a deadweightloss of a lot of time and exhaust fumes. The reserved spots in the Shirlington parking garage are an unenforced joke. I shop at several of the TJ's, especially Foggy Bottom and it irritates me when I bicyle there and think about the cost of the garage my bicycling or walking subsidizes. I also drive there sometimes and am irritated at the amount of time it takes to get a spot. The answer seems to be charging for parking.

by Ren on Sep 23, 2010 11:16 am • link • report

@ Ren; you know, I feel the same way at Dean and Deluca. I am tired of subsidizing the people who buy fresh produce or sushi when I buy the take out food. Time to revolt! Companies should not cross-subsidiying goods and charge us for the AC they are wasting!

by charlie on Sep 23, 2010 11:24 am • link • report

Give 'em the parking! We wouldn't want them to back out because of that.

by Bill on Oct 20, 2010 2:06 pm • link • report

Get real! It's near a METRO station and bus stops that serve FOUR routes! If you can't get to it by car you CAN reach it by bus!

by Ace on Dec 28, 2010 5:49 pm • link • report