The Quest to See the $100K Parking Spot

Does it really cost $100,000 for a single parking spot at 44 Prince Street? And what do you get for that kind of money? With a tip of the hat to Universal Hub, we sent intern David Mashburn to the North End to see how the other half parks.

I don’t normally pay attention to the aesthetics of garage doors, but I’d say the two light gray garage doors look pleasant enough from the street, ranking at least a 6.8 on a scale of 10. The driveway is on Parmenter Street, right next to the North End Branch of the BPL. A shopping cart overflowing with black plastic trash bags is pulled up on the curb next to the driveway. It appears the owner of this cart has not paid for his spot.

The garage doors, though, refuse to budge. Neither “Open sesame” nor, “I just paid One Hundred Grand, let me in” have any effect, and so I resign myself to sneaking in behind an entering car just as a light rain starts falling. But my patience grows thin, and there’s no choice but to try to persuade someone in the condominium’s lobby to grant me access.

Charles Hanf, Sr., resident services coordinator, greets me at the door. I put away my camera, tuck my department store shirt into my pen-stained khakis, and play it cool.

“I saw a listing for a parking space at 44 Prince Street. Do you know if there is one available?” Hanf looks me over.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret,” he offers. “The parking spaces here go for $100,000.” Success! I continue playing it cool.

Hanf tells me that I’d have to go through 44 Prince Street LLC if I’m interested in obtaining a spot. A middle-aged woman walking a small dog and wearing a flamboyant sun dress (in the rain, I might add) walks in and steals my would-be guide away from me. He never returns and the moment is gone, so I walk back to the T in the rain.

But all is not lost. Back at the office I pull up the website of the condominium developer. Right there on the computer screen, is a shot of the “secure, underground parking garage.”

The floor is concrete, there are three white lines painted on it for hemming in vehicles, and each space is numbered. That’s it. Here’s what else you could do with your car for $100,000.

Valet park in the North End 10,000 times.

Park at Symphony Hall for a Red Sox game 5,000 times.

Pay off 2,500 parking tickets from the city of Boston.

Something tells me this is one high-end luxury I could do without.