Abu Dhabi: Residents in Abu Dhabi’s Marina Square community are angry at the management company responsible for the area, for charging Dh9,600 for an additional parking space when there is no alterative parking available on the square.
Three60, the management company responsible for Marina Square, has recently announced they will be replacing the parking gates to the building’s underground parking for a more secure system which will also stop people from entering the underground carparks. Residents can acquire an additional space from the company for Dh9,600 per year.
Marina Square is a community located on Reem Island which consists of a number of high-rise buildings and thousands of residents. Each resident is allocated one access card and one parking space in the building’s underground parking, regardless of the size of their apartment.
There is a visitor parking area which holds over 100 parking spaces in one part of the square for the use of the entire community. There is no other street parking, paid or free, available on this part of the island.
“Why is it so expensive? We have no choice here, and now they [Three60] are saying that they are changing the security to stop us from tailgating into the parking,” said mother of two N.A.
She admitted to entering the underground parking area to avoid parking in the visitor’s space which is a 10-minute walk away.
“I have two small children. How am I supposed to carry them and all their stuff from across the street to here?” she said. “By the time my husband comes home from work, the majority of time there is no space available in the visitor parking area.”
Her views were echoed by a number of residents in the community.
Another resident, U.A., who has two cars and lives here with his wife and two children, said he had given his allocated space to his wife so she could manage the school runs. He currently parks in a mosque near by. “I will not pay over Dh9,000 for a parking space. Our rent is already high here, we cannot afford this. They are exploiting us.”
“The whole situation is a hassle. When I do the shopping, I have to come up to the lobby with my car, drop off all my shopping and then go park the car at the mosque.”
Some residents complained that they would like to rent a space for the remainder of their lease which was under a year, however, they would have to pay the full year’s fee. This claim was denied by Three60 who say they rent the spaces according to the resident’s lease duration.
Father-of-two A.M., who has been living in the area for over three years, said, “We don’t have an alternative here. It’s basically park with us or no parking. It really isn’t fair. How can they charge almost Dh10,000 for a parking space? Charge something but not this.”
He said they have postponed their plans to buy a second car as result of the parking issues. “It’s very difficult for us to manage our activities with only one car.”
Mother-of-two R.B. who has two cars said, “We moved here because of the parking issues in town and we will probably leave here because of parking. Around Dh10,000 for a parking space is too expensive, I will change my location before I pay this.”
“There is no parking even away from the house, the visitors’ parking is always full and too far away for me and the children. What are we supposed to do?” she added.
Three60 told Gulf News they are aware of the parking issues in this area which are caused by the success of the growing community and are working on providing additional overnight and short-term parking for residents which will be announced to the community shortly. Other long-term initiatives were also in the pipeline.
The spokesman added the charge for an additional parking space was approved by the relevant authorities and it goes towards a dedicated, secure and covered parking space. The company rents the limited spaces available in accordance with residents’ lease duration.
Three60 confirmed the square and parking areas were built in line with the relevant Abu Dhabi regulations at its time of construction.
