It's the parking garage version of “stay off my lawn” — a picture of the AMLI parking garages’ two signs went viral on social media this weekend. The garages, which usually charge $35 a day (on the high end for downtown) or rates that go up in hourly increments (free the first 20 minutes, $8 for up to an hour, $13 for up to four hours, and so on), posted a sign advertising $80 parking during South by Southwest.
The AMLI’s two parking garages have 683 spaces between them, and the bulk of those are reserved for residents of the buildings’ 451 apartments. Parking spaces are rented to residents for $125 a month.
Outside SXSW, the garages offer free two-hour weekday parking with validation from participating stores in the 2nd Street District. The AMLI on 2nd garage in particular also validates four-hour parking with the purchase of a Violet Crown movie ticket. During events such as ACL Live concerts, the garage usually posts a sign stating event parking is not available.
Ken Smith, senior project manager for Lanier Parking, which manages the AMLI’s parking garages, declined to comment for this story.
Other entrepreneurial businesses downtown followed suit — a garage near Republic Square Park posted a sign advertising $75 parking. However, the majority of downtown parking garages are charging a daily rate of $10-$25. The cheapest SXSW parking lot remains I-35 during peak traffic.
Event officials recommend visitors use Capital Metro buses, the MetroRail, or ridesharing apps to get to and from downtown. Both Uber and Lyft are offering promotions: on Monday, March 14, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Uber users can enter promo code "CONNECTION" for a chance at a complimentary ride, along with gifts in partnership with Lululemon. Lyft, SXSW's official ridesharing partner, is offering a $10 credit with promo code "BUDSXSW" to new and existing users from through March 21, from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., as a courtesy of Budweiser.
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