WallyPark Poised To Reopen At Milwaukee Airport
Private parking operator closed in 2021 amidst travel slowdown.
WallyPark, 4747 S. Howell Ave. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
WallyPark is gearing up to reopen its parking operation near Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.
The facility, 4747 S. Howell Ave., was shuttered in February 2021 amidst an international slowdown in travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Los Angeles-based company offers private parking near airports in competition with the often publicly-owned lots and structures directly affiliated with the airports themselves. According to its website, WallyPark currently offers airport parking in Atlanta, Denver, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Diego and Seattle. It previously offered a lot near O’Hare Airport in Chicago.
WallyPark offers shuttle rides to the airport, a loyalty program for discounted rates and a corporate program for larger clients.
The Milwaukee operation was initially approved for approximately 1,200 spaces, but an occupancy permit filed Wednesday indicates the company only intends to operate approximately 400 spaces when it resumes service. An estimated 35 employees would work at the facility, which offers a mix of open-air surface spaces and covered spaces.
WallyPark opened its Milwaukee facility in 2014 on the redeveloped, 15.55-acre site of what was once Milwaukee’s second-largest hotel. An agreement with the city resulted in the approximately 1,200 surface parking stalls being set back from S. Howell Ave. to accommodate future development along the street.
Built in 1960, the hotel was expanded and rebranded in phases. At its peak, it had 508 rooms. It was last a Wyndham brand hotel before closing.
The six-story hotel structure, while vacant, is still standing in the middle of the property, but the sprawling conference center that stretched towards S. Howell Ave. was demolished, as were a series of other attached, two-story buildings. WallyPark, according to the occupancy permit request, would use a portion of the hotel’s first floor as office space.
WallyPark parent company, L&R Group of Companies, purchased the property out of foreclosure for $3.3 million in late 2012. It is currently assessed for $5 million, down from $7.5 million when the parking provider was last in operation.
A representative of the company did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.
WallyPark’s primary private competitor in Milwaukee, Fast Park, continued to operate through the pandemic and honored pre-paid reservations and loyalty rewards with WallyPark through a formal arrangement.
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