INNOVATIVE car-park construction company Parkd Ltd has finished its pre-fabricated two-level parking area and dealership service area in Perth in six weeks.

The company, chaired by former Automotive Holdings Group Ltd managing director Bronte Howson, built the car park project – its first – with two levels and 49 bays, for City Subaru in Perth.

Parkd has this month followed that with a bid for a $9 million contract to build a multi-storey, 389-bay car park located in inner-city Perth.

Parkd said it will be paid a fee for the initial design, consulting and feasibly work to validate the project’s commercial viability. If the project proceeds, it is estimated to have a total value of about $9 million.

Parkd Ltd managing director Peter McUtchen said the Perth city car park is planned to operate for an extended period of time before a potential real estate development is constructed.

He said this illustrated how the company’s technology can provide revenue streams from vacant sites and increase parking capacity within inner-city locations across in Australia.

The company is following up with other inquiries for its car-park systems, including for dealerships.

City Subaru dealer principal John Nossiter said the challenges of running a dealership and managing space were significant.

“We looked at every option, including the purchase of additional land, but it simply wasn’t cost effective,” he said of the project.

“Conventional construction would have meant closing down our entire business or relocating while the build took place.”

Mr McUtchen said that the inquiries had led his company to now focus on selecting and locking in additional projects that both demonstrate the commercial potential and create significant shareholder value.

“After the lessons learned on the City Subaru project our construction partners are now ready to prefabricate and supply the primary elements to support the potential significant growth nationally,” he said.

Parkd uses pre-fabricated components that are made of lightweight concrete which are transported to the site by trucks and then craned into position and bolted together.

Making the components offsite removes the need for intensive site activities and shortens the construction time and reduces costs.

The car parks can also be deconstructed, relocated and reused in a new location. They also have the flexibility to add and remove levels in response to parking demand over time.

By Neil Dowling