Thessaloniki: Up to 280 euros for a parking space – They turn shops into parking lots

The inconvenience and irritation from the exhausting search for a parking space turns many away Thessalonians in the market of an empty shop in order to turn it into their own parking lot. The interest in this “solution” seems to be heating up, because the prices for renting space in private stations have exceeded the pre-crisis levels and are already over 200 euros/month in the city center.

The phenomenon, “I buy a store and turn it into a parking lot”, is not current, but it seems to be taking on dimensions, due to the lack of public parking spaces, but also the rise in prices for private parking lots. On the streets of the center, whether you have a permanent resident badge or are a visitor, finding a parking space in the sea of ​​double-parked cars is equivalent to a minor miracle. And the problem, of course, has extended far beyond the historical center of Thessaloniki.

Today, renting a parking space by the month, in private parking lots in the center of Thessaloniki, starts from 160 euros and reaches 200 and 230 euros, such as e.g. in the parking lot of the CHANTH and in the parking lots in Vas. Heraklion, while the place in the small parking lots e.g. of Consul Koromilas, has reached 280 euros/month. Cheaper is the underground parking of the City Hall at 120 euros/month and of Vellideion, at 140 euros/month.

Parking, a story of everyday madness

The “finding to park” case is a story of daily madness for the people of Thessaloniki who are forced to move with their cars, since the city’s public transport is… the next one, the buses, with the sparse routes, the delays, the suffocatingly full cities at rush hour.

In this city of transportation alalum, unfortunately everyone looks to be as comfortable as possible and based on this logic, many have looked for and found shops, in streets that have lost their commercial interest, shops that have been empty for years. So they have 15,000-20,000 euros, they buy a shop which can get an entry-exit permit from the Directorate of Sustainable Mobility of the relevant Municipality, they get a permit for small-scale works (including pavement degradation, etc.) and do, with a private engineer, the process of change of use of the property.

So those who choose this solution secure a place to park their car, relatively close to their home or their place of work if it is permanent, saving them the daily hassle of looking for a parking space. These “lucky ones” partially solve their problem – because obviously in their travels in the city they will encounter the same difficulties again – but in the balance of the parking spaces, they remove a shared parking space, from other drivers, in order to have free access to their parking .

As pointed out to GRTimes.gr, Ms. Gogo Ayfantopoulou, transportation expert and deputy director of the Transport Institute/IMET of EKETA, such an option does not solve the huge problem that has been created in the city by the entry and movement of thousands of cars in the area of ​​the historic center. Thessaloniki, more broadly, should, on the basis of the directions of the SBAK, take measures to strengthen sustainable mobility. Preparations should have been made to limit the use of cars before the metro was even put into operation. In fact, he proposes measures of an economic nature, of the type “he who has two, pays more”, that is, measures that will “hit” the wallets of residents who keep a second car, but also measures to control car owners who issue permits for parking spaces, in the name of elderly people or people with disabilities.

“I would have no objection to an empty shop being turned into a parking lot, but not for a single car, not without quality conditions being taken. We don’t want the once lively roads to degrade even more, so the issue is not strictly urban planning, nor strictly transport, it is ultimately a matter of planning measures for the regeneration of entire areas”, he told GRTimes.gr.

Parking, problem with many… “tentacles”

As the engineer Mr. Iraklis Soufleros said, the phenomenon of changing the use of a store, in a parking lot, is observed mainly in areas of the historic center as well as the wider center, e.g. in internal streets of Stratou Avenue, Theageniou, Analipsi and Martiou areas, but also in some parts of the Upper Town.

This is a phenomenon that first appeared ten years ago, when in the midst of the crisis, real estate prices had dropped dramatically and many shops were closed for endless months. Even then, the main reason for the phenomenon was the lack of parking spaces in the center and in many neighborhoods of the city.

The phenomenon extends beyond the Municipality of Thessaloniki, it is observed in the older parts of the Municipality of Evosmos but also in the densely built part of Neapolis, in areas where the parking problem is very acute.

“Interest is manifested in shops on streets that have been discredited commercially. The owners have an interest in selling these properties, which do not bring them income”, added Mr. Soufleros.

And parking and… hiking

Private parking prices are regulated by demand and by increases in property rental prices, pointed out Mr. Apostolos Symeonidis, managing director of OTO Parking AE, noting that many Thessalonians who get off on a regular basis in the city center, choose to park their cars in the cheapest parking lots that are outside the historic center and then go to their destination either by roller skating or by walking.

“Undoubtedly, thousands of parking spaces are missing from Thessaloniki, but another, more correct reading of the problem, would show us that there are many cars. You cannot live in the city center and your family has two cars. Live in the Analipsi area and have two cars and a third for the adult child. Also, we see that many families, while getting a new car, also keep the old one, which they have almost permanently parked, occupying a parking space on the street.

“The Municipality of Thessaloniki is setting up 20 open public parking lots, these should under no circumstances become “cemeteries” for old cars. Many aspects of the parking shortage problem are due to a bad mindset. The roads, the undeveloped spaces, are not parking lots for old cars. Every family, as long as they live in an urban fabric, should have an IX car, the one that serves them in their daily needs”, argued Mr. Symeonidis, creator of ThessBike and supporter of sustainable urban mobility, to add:

“Today the state of public transport justifies to a certain extent the extensive use of cars. When the subway goes into operation, we will all have to confront our habits”.

But even if the people of Thessaloniki do not need to go down to the center with their cars, even if the traffic conditions favor sustainable micro-mobility, the city needs parking spaces. Municipal authorities, owners of old properties and businessmen should work together to create parking spaces that will meet the needs of permanent residents of the center of Thessaloniki and other densely built and densely populated areas, which are currently suffocated by cars.

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