SpotOn lets people rent out unused space for parking

Aaron Strick, logistics manager for SpotOn Parking, demonstrates the app that lets people rent out unused spaces. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

David Kim needed a place in San Francisco to park the six cars he lists on RelayRides, an Airbnb-type service that lets people rent their personal autos to others over the Internet.

So it was only natural that he made a deal with SpotOn Parking, which lets San Francisco homeowners and businesses rent out their driveways, garages and parking lots when not in use.

SpotOn says it is different from apps that help drivers find spots on the street or in garages because it is trying to increase the supply of parking in the city.

"We have three sources of inventory," says Hanna Bui, who was a technology lawyer before starting SpotOn last year.

One is homeowners who rent out their driveways or garages.

Another is commercial lots that normally close at night because no attendant is on duty.

The biggest is businesses, churches, schools and other establishments that rent out their lots when not in use.

Preston Turner, chairman of the board at Third Baptist Church in San Francisco, works with the SpotOn app to rent out the church's overflow parking area when it's not needed for services or other events. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle 

 

Nate Hernandez, with the SpotOn sales department, posts a sign near the Third Baptist Church lot. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle

SpotOn has access to more than 500 spaces in San Francisco, Bui says.

There are two payment models. With the hourly model, drivers use a smartphone app to find an empty spot, check in, check out and pay with their credit card. The price is usually $2.50 to $3.50 per hour with a $10 to $12 maximum for 12 hours.

With an "all you can park" subscription, drivers pay a monthly fee for a guaranteed spot near their home or office, although it might not be the same spot every time.

The monthly fee varies by neighborhood and ranges from $150 in the Mission District to $400 in North Beach. Subscribers can use any other SpotOn space for free when they are out and about.

The company generally takes a 30 percent cut of parking revenue.
City regulations



SpotOn has yet to deal with San Francisco's permit regulations or 25 percent parking tax. The company is working on that, says Bui.

Carrie Busch stumbled upon SpotOn when she was taking her stepsons trick-or-treating at Fair Oaks, a Halloween hotspot. "There was no way I was going to get parking there," she says. "I saw a sign for SpotOn at a church. I downloaded the app and paid $2.50 to park. It saved my life."

Since then she has used SpotOn once every week or two, usually when she visits the Mission on a Saturday night.

Kim uses the subscription model. He pays a flat $500 a month for a place in North Beach plus space for his rental fleet on the Third Baptist Church parking lot in the Western Addition.

Kim says he didn't need, and couldn't afford, six full-time spots for his cars. "They usually get rented out two-thirds of the month," he says. The downside is that he must find other parking when the church has services, funerals or other events.

Bui says Kim got a good deal because he's a RelayRides renter and SpotOn wants more of them.

Third Baptist makes about 40 spaces available to SpotOn, says Preston Turner, chairman of the church board. He says the program "has been a win-win for our neighbors and our church." The "donations" from renters help fund church programs. More importantly, the church is "networking and building a rapport" with people who might never come through its doors.

Down the street from Third Baptist, the Jerusalem Church of God in Christ rents about 22 spaces through SpotOn and receives about $1,700 a month from the service. "I don't think God has called us to be a parking lot," pastor Scott Galbraith says, but "it underwrites a lot of what we are doing." Plus it's a lot easier than holding "cakewalks, chicken dinners, candy sales."

Of course, no good deed in San Francisco goes unpunished.

The city has strict laws governing parking lot operators. "Operators have to get a police permit, get a bond; it's highly regulated," says Greg Kato, policy and legislative manager for the Office of the Treasurer-Tax Collector.



Article & Photos Sourced From: http://www.sfgate.com/business/networth/article/SpotOn-lets-people-rent-out-unused-space-for-5468453.php#photo-6275399