$1000 Dollars Parking in Downtown Detroit?

**Lowell** · January-18-25, 11:08 AM

Remember the bad ole days when you could find free parking in downtown Detroit and the Lions sucked?

City officials claimed to have found parking prices of $900 to $1,000 being marketed at a site called SpotHero in advance of the NFC divisional round game Saturday at Ford Field. [And, first off, nobody paid that price, but this story about it is revelatory of the ridiculous prices being paid for parking in downtown.]

They took action by closing the parking lots, claiming the lots did not file the required price changes with the city. The lots were later reopened by a judge after showing they were being marketed by second-party sources. Some snippets from Susan Tompor’s Free Press article today.

“It's totally ridiculous,” said David Bell, director of the city of Detroit's building safety, engineering and environmental department, which oversees compliance and enforcement on parking lots.

Detroit's parking investigation team, Bell said, found prices of $900 to $1,000 being marketed online at a site called SpotHero in advance of the NFC divisional round game that will take place at 8 p.m. Saturday at Ford Field.

“Plenty of online websites were offering parking passes this week at $50 to $80 for the Saturday night game, with parking closer to the event going at much higher rates. One spot offered via StubHub on Thursday was priced as high $583 and listed as a space in “Parking Lot 4 - 49 feet from the venue.”

Typically, he said, parking lot operators give the city a list of their rates for the season. The city maintains that the parking lot operator must submit their rates; it's not an option.

“We've never seen parking lots submit a rate of $900 or $1,000,” he said.

Parking lots in Detroit have signs posted at the gate that show their lowest to top rates, posted on the signs. In many cases, lots near Ford Field and Comerica Park have rates posted as high as $100 to $150.

Can a parking lot charge higher rates at some point? Unfortunately, the answer is yes.

If a parking lot wishes to charge an amount that exceeds the maximum rate it has on file with the city of Detroit, Bell said, the rules say the lot must submit a rate sheet to the city at least 30 days in advance of when they plan to charge that higher rate.

**Jimaz** · January-18-25, 01:11 PM

It might make sense if they were selling the parking space instead of just renting it out. Imagine buying a single parking space for life.

**Henry Whalley** · January-18-25, 02:58 PM

Originally Posted by Lowell

...the rules say the lot must submit a rate sheet to the city at least 30 days in advance of when they plan to charge that higher rate.

Unless one knows which palms to grease at city hall.

P.S. I can't afford parking or a Lions' game ticket. Can barely afford cable TV.

**Richard** · January-18-25, 03:40 PM

Free market.

But in retrospect how is it more insane then paying somebody to chase a ball $100s of millions,I am not into all of that but I think it’s sad that the working poor cannot even afford to take their kids to a ball game anymore no different then Disney world,you can only discover the magic if you can afford it.

It stopped being a sport and is a revenue generator.

But then again people pay $11,000 to see Taylor Swift for 3 hours not including parking,kinda make paying $1000 for parking to see a game pretty cheap.

**Neilr** · January-18-25, 07:19 PM

Former Councilman Clyde Cleveland must be rolling in his grave.

**Henry Whalley** · January-18-25, 07:52 PM

Originally Posted by Neilr

Former Councilman Clyde Cleveland must be rolling in his grave.

How so? Was he a silent partner parking lot owner?

**Neilr** · January-18-25, 10:42 PM

Originally Posted by Henry Whalley

How so? Was he a silent partner parking lot owner?

No, he was the complete opposite. At Council meetings he regularly ranted about price gouging by parking lot owners greatly raising their unregulated rates without any notice for special events.

**expatriate** · January-25-25, 03:18 PM

This is a great example of capitalism at it's very best. A perfect wedding of supply and demand. Abundant parking does not a great city make. One can always take public transit, or ride share to a game. If there is a market for $1000 parking places, by all means let the buyer beware.

**Kathleen** · January-25-25, 04:03 PM

From what I read, this was a non-story. A software glitch that was identified and fixed, but not fast enough.

From https://www.wxyz.com/news/detroit-ta...or-lions-game:

In a statement following the ruling, Vogt expressed gratitude for the court's swift action to rectify the situation, emphasizing the unjust damage to Park Rite's business and reputation:

"Following a brief hearing this morning with Judge David Allen, the Court issued a temporary restraining order against the City of Detroit, ordering that the three parking lots be reopened immediately and that the suspension of Park Rite’s business licenses be restored. After hearing Park Rite’s side of the story, the Court found that contrary to the City allegations in its Complaint, not a single person was charged any amount over Park Rite’s published rates. The Court also found that the elevated price advertised on SpotHero was posted inadvertently and then removed by SpotHero and Park Rite as soon as it was discovered. Park Rite is thankful that the Court took immediate action to right this wrong, and undo the City’s unjustified closures which unnecessarily damaged Park Rite’s business and reputation, and inconvenienced numerous City residents just trying to get to work this morning."

SpotHero also responded, confirming that once Park Rite identified the error, they worked swiftly to correct it:

"Park Rite has been a long-term and valued partner with SpotHero. SpotHero can confirm that once Park Rite became aware of the erroneous rate, they worked with SpotHero to quickly correct it."

Sounds like Park Rite used the $999 as a placeholder in their system and it inadvertently was released when SpotHero made a software update.