Want to park closer to your favorite University Park Village shop? That’ll cost you
Parking closer to your favorite store at University Park Village may cost you between $7 and $12 under a new parking initiative.
University Park Village has unveiled Up Front Plus Parking spots in its lot just off South University Drive. Nine spots are spread throughout the shopping complex; There’s one in front of newly opened restaurant Flower Child, another in front of the Apple store, three in front of Athleta, two more in front of Lululemon and another two in front of Soma Intimates.
Each sign’s QR code takes shoppers to a page where they have the option to pay $7 for a two-hour visit, $10 for a four-hour visit and $12 for a six-hour visit, along with a 30-cent service fee. The signs also warn shoppers who park in the spots that “Payment is required and strictly enforced.”
And on Monday afternoon, few of the paid spots hosted any cars. In a parking lot that is historically pandemonium without a space in sight come a busy weekend, that could likely change — but not without a bit of a fuss.
The shopping center’s parking initiative was met with outrage on Reddit after a user posted a picture of the parking sign in front of Flower Child.
“I’ll walk,” one user wrote.
“I refuse to go there,” another lamented. “That parking lot makes me want to die.”
The paid parking has some threatening to stop shopping at University Park Village if it spreads lot-wide.
“If this goes into practice for all the spots I’ll never venture over there,” one user wrote. “I rarely go over as it is but I detest paying to park for places like that.”
Up Front Plus Parking isn’t necessarily new for Simon Property Group, the company that owns University Park Village, as well as North East Mall in Hurst.
Atlanta-based mall Lenox Square has a whole lot of Up Front Plus Parking spaces. The mall’s website boasts the 800-space gated lot’s attendant, as well as efficiency with quick access to the mall’s entrance. Shoppers who use the parking lot even get a complimentary water bottle. It’s unclear if such amenities will be offered with the spaces at University Park Village.
Representatives with Simon Property Group didn’t immediately respond to an email requesting comment.
