ApexHi MD David Rice says the company has focused on specialist areas to increase income in the core portfolio and enlisted the skills of parkSA in June 2007 to optimise revenue and address equipment and service-level issues in 14 car parks in the portfolio.

“The gross revenue in these 14 parkades increased from R14,6-million in the six months to end December 2007 to R17,9-million in the six months to end December 2007 – an increase of R3,3-million in revenue. This excludes revenue generated from the other parkades linked to office buildings in the ApexHi portfolio.

“Importantly, every R2,6-million in income translates into one cent in annual distributions to investors. We are expecting growth in parking revenue of 20-25%, which will generate at least two cents per combined unit in distributions for the year,” says Rice.

parkSA’s Noel Waddoup says the car park revenue would probably have increased marginally due to standard tariff increases, but additional marketing, control measures and upgrades to equipment and facilities have resulted in the significant improvement in revenue.

“In the Fedforum building in Pretoria CBD, revenue is up 90% due to significant back billing and increases in monthly billings, while Sammy Marks and Kempton Square have reported increases of 58% due to strong marketing, prudent tariff reviews and new leases,” he says.

Waddoup says ApexHi has invested in upgrading parkades such as Finpark in the Pretoria CBD, where improved lighting and painting, the replacement of control equipment and increased security measures have justified increases in tariffs. In addition, Pine Parkade is also undergoing a refurbishment which includes the addition of an extra gate and the replacement of control equipment.

“Parking has traditionally been neglected by property owners. Because parking is usually outsourced, the emphasis has been on squeezing the costs, which ultimately leads to a drop in service levels. Being a high volume, low denomination cash business, controls and attention to detail are paramount,” says Waddoup.

The attention focused on the car parks not only increases revenue, but also adds to the value of the property concerned.