While the housing crunch and stubbornly high interest rates are putting homes out of reach for many, those with the means are willing to plunk down millions for a condo dedicated to their luxury cars.
This is not a fancy garage.
“A garage is an attached unit to a residential dwelling,” James Pilkington of Weichert Realtors – Paradise Homes tells Realtor.com. “An auto condo is specifically designed as a larger storage for multiple or a collection of automobiles. Just like any other condo in Southwest Florida, [the buyer] will own it.”
And just like most other condos, there is a home owners’ association that collects monthly fees to cover maintenance of the common areas, upkeep, and standard insurance. Cars must be insured separately.
A car unit will often come with a mezzanine or club house, where the owner can relax or entertain while enjoying their vehicles—either taking them out for spins or just showing them off.
These luxury car residences can start in the low $700,000s and range up to $2 million. On top of that, an owner will often then spend hundreds of thousands retrofitting the unit with an entertainment and dining areas, a kitchen, and even a full living space. Some will also install auto lifts to fit in more cars.
The condos “are going to be very luxurious,” says Pilkington, who manages sales and marketing for Prima Auto Condos, a 33-unit luxury car storage facility nearly completed in Naples, FL. “Not unlike what the owners’ homes would be.”
But luxe and comfy as the spaces are, there can be no sleeping over. By law and permit, these condos are made for cars, not people.
Prima Auto Condos’ units go up to $1.2 million and range from 1,750 square feet to 2,125 square feet for first floor and mezzanine. Some units boast private outdoor patios.
All units are fully climate controlled, have 18-foot ceilings, and include secured key pad and card reader security, 24/7 cameras and alarm, emergency lights, thermostats, and occupancy sensors. The largest unit can fit up to seven cars. A wide concourse area means the cars can be easily driven in and out.
And, yes, those with an expansive car collection—sometimes 20 or more autos—will often buy several units.
If someone has a million or so to drop on an auto condo, why not just build a luxurious garage on the owner’s property? The reasons are many.
“A lot of people live in gated communities, so there’s a limit on how much of a garage they can build,” explains Pilkington. “A secondary reason is that in certain areas in Southwest Florida, Naples, and Collier County, although they can build a larger garage space, they may not able to get insurance on their vehicles due to flooding.”
Prima has added additional fill to raise the building to the point where it can be reclassified as Zone X, which means it is not in a Special Flood Hazard Area, making flood coverage not mandatory. This, says the broker, is “appreciated by insurance companies when they are insuring multimillion dollars worth of vehicles.”
And, this being South Florida, the complex is constructed to withstand Category 5 hurricanes, with impact glass and doors, and all the extreme weather “bells and whistles,” says the broker.
Who owns an auto condo?
While some car collectors reside locally, most are only in the state for the winter season, but leave their cars behind. These car lovers may primarily live in an urban core like New York City, where there generally isn’t space to park their exotic and highly valuable vehicles. In general, the owners hold on to the condos for the long term.
How does one in the market for a luxe auto condo buy one? Pilkington says it isn’t as straightforward as shopping for a condo for humans.
“They aren’t commercial and they aren’t residential,” he says, explaining that while auto condos are listed on the Multiple Listing Service, they can be difficult to locate because of this gray area designation.
The broker says that since car enthusiasts tend to want the condos to be near to their homes, geographically-targeted marketing such as advertising boards, signage, and presence at car events such as Cars and Coffee is heavily leaned on by the auto condo industry.
The broker notes the industry in South Florida ramped up in the past five years, then exploded in the past two years. According to Only Garage Condos, the Sunshine State ranks among the top garage condo markets in the country, with 59 garage condo developments across 32 cities and over 2,600 units.
The state not only attracts plenty of car enthusiasts, but high net worth individuals who can afford multiple exotic vehicles such as Ferraris or Porches.
Naples, says the agent, has a particularly strong exotic car culture—as proven by the Lamborghini dealership near to the condo building—and is also one of the wealthiest metros in the nation. The combo means a strong auto condo market.
There are several other high-end auto condo companies in the city including JetPort Motor Suites and Naples Auto Vault.
The typical auto condo owner
So what type of person buys a vehicle condo?
“The simple answer is that it is people who can spend a million dollars on an auto condo,” says Pilkington with a laugh.
The more detailed answer is that the average owner runs the gamut from younger successful C-Suite professionals to older retirees who’ve had decades to accumulate car collections.
“These are people who have an appreciation of automobiles and they have grown their wealth,” he says.
In general, those purchasing a condo have a multiple cars—they aren’t shelling out for just one special car, no matter how pricey.
“If they that have that one exotic vehicle, they can put that in their own dwelling garage,” the agent says. The typical condo owner has at least three expensive cars.
“There is one gentleman I’m speaking with now who has over 20 Porches,” he notes. Another buyer who plunked down for multiple units has an eclectic collection of “high-end European cars” as well as “classic high-end American-made cars.”
The broker claims he has seen plenty of females with a car jones—though he admits that the women are usually attached to a male partner/car enthusiast.
“A lot of it is a joint decision of people in a relationship,” he says. “Couples that appreciate automobiles together.”
Auto condo price appreciation
While the broader Florida condo market, with exceptions like Palm Beach and Miami, has lately seen a downturn, the agent says that auto condos tend to appreciate, though he did not have hard numbers.
“It’s hard to have a crystal ball for what the appreciation is going to be,” he says. “Some of the condos created years ago have appreciated generally well.”
And while the broker notes that most condo buyers are likely are more motivated by passion than investment, he says, “You know what, plenty of people will buy them with the expectation of an appreciation or return on investment standpoint.”
As for the cars themselves, while the general rule is that vehicles begin depreciating the second they are driven off the lot, that doesn’t tend to be the case with collectible cars such as a Ferrari F40, Shelby Cobra, or vintage Bugatti, which can highly appreciate.
But beyond a secure and glamorous space to park their precious cars, auto condo owners are there for the sociability aspect.
“You’re probably going to run into people you want to spend time with,” he says. “It’s a great way for these owners to build relationships.”
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