Public servants grappling with the hated new public pay parking regime in Canberra's Parliamentary Triangle will soon have plenty of options to go private.
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Developers have been watching the advent of paid parking with interest and Canberra's Doma Group had their plans for private car parks in place years before the first public servant was asked to stump up $12 for a day's parking.
The development firm, which owns Barton's Realm Hotel, has one private multi-story car park well on its way to completion in public-service central and another in the final stages of the approvals process.
Doma Director Jure Domazet said the first of the buildings, at John McEwen Crescent opposite Foreign Affairs and Trade, should be ready to take its first commuter parkers early next year.
"We were delayed by an environmental approval and would have hoped to be open by now," Mr Domazet said.
"The first car parking is targeted to open in the second quarter of 2015 with the hotel on top open in the following quarter.
"In joint venture with the Morris Property Group, we have just had a new structured car park approved next door to the Ottoman Restaurant.
"This should be completed in the second half of 2015."
But the developer does not expect the project to revolutionise parking in the triangle or to unduly trouble the National Capital Authority's collection of parking fees.
"The market rate at the time will be the best guide to the parking rates - at the moment, this is $12-a-day," Mr Domazet said.
"A critical attraction with our car park is that it is undercover and is built to modern building standards.
"The immediate reaction in the market to the removal of free parking will be interesting, but paid parking has been in Barton for a while now.
"You would expect a modal shift away from cars will occur, but they will always be an essential part of the transport network.
"People will decide if they want to walk, ride, drive or catch a bus, but it will work itself out just as it has done all over Canberra."
But Mr Domazet said Doma's new buildings would have something that public servants had been crying-out for – supermarkets.
"Both car parks will introduce retail facilities, with a small convenience store planned for the car park next to DFAT and a larger, 500sqm supermarket next to the Ottoman and the apartments in Governor Place," he said.
"There will be other retail opportunities in that car park as well, which will change the dynamic of Barton a bit.
"We know there is demand for parking in Barton right now and there are people who will appreciate the convenience."
