You would be forgiven for mistaking it to be an upcoming retail space or another great venue for events. This stunning Miami building is, in fact, a parking garage. It may not look like a parking garage, but that is what it is.
Located in Miami’s South Beach, this stylish $65 million parking garage is a high-end answer to the area’s parking problems. Art collector Ron Wennett purchased the property in 2005 and decided that a parking space would prove a profitable option. However, he did not want another hideous-looking garage. So he roped in Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron (famous for the Olympic ‘Bird’s Nest’ stadium in Beijing) to create a head-turner of a parking garage.
By 2010, Wennett’s head turner was ready. With floors rising to a whopping 34 feet, an inner staircase that was peppered with art and a designer wear store within a glass cube, Miami finally has a parking garage with a high style quotient. The top floor serves as parking space on ordinary days but can also double up as space for events. People have already held weddings on the roof, and this is just the start. Wennett himself has a penthouse apartment on the roof.
Budget car owners may not benefit, but owners of luxury cars have reason to celebrate. Finally, here is a parking space that is a suitable match for Miami’s flashiest cars, whether Jags or Mercs or Maseratis. The charges are higher at $4 an hour, compared with the usual rate of $1 an hour, but I don’t think anyone’s complaining.
Via: The New York Times
