Parking closer to your favorite store in University Park Village can cost you between $7 and $12 under a new parking initiative.
University Park Village has unveiled Up Front Plus parking spaces in its lot just off South University Drive. Nine spots are spread throughout the shopping complex; There is one in front of the recently opened Flower Child restaurant, another in front of the Apple Store, three in front of Athleta, two others in front of Lululemon and two others in front of Soma Intimates.
Each panel’s QR code takes shoppers to a page where they have the option to pay $7 for a two-hour tour, $10 for a four-hour tour, and $12 for a six-hour tour, plus a fee service charge of 30 cents. The signs also warn shoppers parking in the spaces that “payment is required and strictly enforced.”
And on Monday afternoon, few paying places accommodated cars. In a parking lot that’s historically been a pandemonium with no space in sight, on a busy weekend that could probably change – but not without a bit of a fuss.
The mall parking initiative was greeted with indignation on Reddit after a user posted a photo of the parking sign in front of Flower Child.
“I will walk,” wrote one user.
“I refuse to go,” lamented another. “This parking lot makes me want to die.”
Paid parking threatens to shut down shopping in University Park Village if it expands across the lot.
“If it works for all spots, I will never venture there,” wrote one user. “I rarely go there, but I hate paying to park in places like that.”
Up Front Plus Parking is not necessarily new to Simon Property Group, the company that owns University Park Village, as well as the North East Mall in Hurst.
The Atlanta-based Lenox Square Mall has plenty of Up Front Plus parking. The shopping center website has the attendant of the 800-seat closed lot, as well as efficiency with quick access to the mall entrance. Shoppers who use the parking lot even get a free bottle of water. It’s unclear if such amenities will be offered with spaces in University Park Village.
Representatives for Simon Property Group did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Comments are closed.