How AirGarage Grew Revenue Up To 6x Across Larry Spada's Portfolio

Every property ran on cash-based operations, with heavy payroll, insurance, and equipment costs, including lifts, none of it generating more revenue in return.

"There were no pros with parking attendance. Nobody wins. They sit there for five hours with nothing to do, and then they have to run crazy for an hour and a half in the morning and crazy for an hour and a half in the afternoon."

The President Street property sat in a high-risk area, and without a way to collect payment that didn't involve a person handling cash on site, Larry chose not to staff it at all rather than expose an employee to that risk.

"There's too much cash on the lot. I theoretically couldn't take the responsibility of a hurt employee not giving up the cash because we didn't staff it. We just weren't collecting the revenue."

The Commerce Street property had a related gap, as staffing the lot on nights and weekends cost more than the lot earned during those hours, so it sat unstaffed and did not collect revenue for a portion of the week.

Before signing on, Larry evaluated AirGarage against other options in the market. AirGarage's funding stood out as a sign that he could find a long-term technology partner with us. He also did his own homework, visiting four AirGarage sites anonymously, watching enforcement teams work the lots, and calling other customers directly to confirm the system held up in practice.

The portfolio started with the President Street lot in Baltimore where AirGarage removed the attendant model entirely and replaced it with QR code-based payment. Larry was on site for the first day of operations to see for himself whether drivers could figure out the new system without friction.

"I was very impressed with how quickly a customer took their cell phone and learned how to use the app without any issue, without any issue whatsoever."

Removing attendants also removed the safety exposure that had kept President Street unstaffed in the first place.

"AirGarage was able to capture all of the business that we weren't capturing because this removed all that fear, no problems of a robbery or a theft or any dangers to the parking attendants."

After President Street, Larry expanded AirGarage to the Newark lots on Jersey Street and Commerce Street. There, dynamic pricing let rates rise and fall with real demand, while AirGarage's operations team tracks competitive pricing nearby to adjust rates accordingly, with technology and hands-on operations working together.

"Somehow AirGarage knows what the correct rate is because it's too expensive with the other lots. They see ours and they grab it. We could never really do that because we don't have access to data."

Expenses across the portfolio dropped by at least 40%, and President Street in Baltimore saw revenue grow by 400-500%, Jersey Street in Newark grew by roughly 200%, and Commerce Street had increased revenue 300%.

"We removed 18 lifts and revenue went up by 300%. And that's primarily because the parking lots became 24/7 because we don't have to staff it. No employees and we capture all of that revenue. You couldn't get 24/7 putting a man out there and getting that number."

The shift also reduced the portfolio's exposure to customer claims and insurance risk, as attendants no longer hold customer keys, handle cash, or manage vehicles directly, removing several of the most common sources of liability in parking operations.

"Everyone knows in operations, one of the most expensive components is payroll. If you're serious about your business, you have to be ahead of the curve. Make parking a more efficient function as opposed to a dinosaur operation."

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