With the housing market faltering, developers are eyeing an emerging and lucrative market: luxurious garages for expensive cars.
"Obviously, a public parking structure or a dusty warehouse is the wrong place to store that 1956 Mercedes-Benz 300SL coupe you picked up for $350,000 at the auction.
The solution could be a car condo.
Imagine a garage with a bathroom, a wet bar, no oil stains on the floor and security guards 24/7. With a concierge who will arrange your next service appointment. With a private rooftop club where you can share a bottle of wine and talk cars with fellow collectors.
All for the cost of a modest single-family home.
As the market for human housing falters, developers around the country are pushing ahead with plans to build homes for four-wheeled investments. The projects are being marketed as part-garage, part-home away from home, part-clubhouse for car nuts.
The standard unit at Luxury on Main will comfortably house four vehicles. Two to four more can be stacked vertically.
Those who want to go the extra mile -- and spend the extra dollars -- can customize their condos with decorating schemes offered by GarageMahal, an Arizona company that specializes in indulgent interior designs for garages.
Interior design packages at Luxury on Main start at $60 a square foot and go up from there. Options range from Art Deco classic to gas station modern to just about anything you can imagine."
Read the full story: Luxury lodging for your machine
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority