Garage parks move from niche to bankable asset class

For Germany’s garage park sector, financing remains the critical hurdle. At REFIRE’s first specialist conference on drive-up storage and garage parks in Frankfurt, the question on many lips was blunt: can these projects actually be financed in today’s market? “Yes, they can,” said Stefan Jung, Managing Partner of Trias Real Estate Finance. “But only if you are fast, thorough, and well prepared.”

Garage parks are still an “unknown species” to many lenders. With little historic data and no established benchmarks, banks default to caution: higher equity, stricter pre-letting quotas, and tighter leverage. The broader environment — rising rates, tighter Basel rules, cautious credit committees — only reinforces this conservatism.

Debt funds and alternative lenders are filling some of the gap, but they too demand clarity. As Jung warned: “The window with a lender is always short. If you’re not ready with everything in place, the opportunity vanishes.”

That means approaching financing with the same intensity as development: data rooms, robust financial models, valuations and clear strategy from day one. Preparation alone isn’t enough; the project must also be framed in a way that resonates with credit committees.

Here, Jung argued that specialist advisors such as Trias must position themselves as a bridge, matching project profiles to the right lenders — whether regional banks, Pfandbrief institutions or international funds. Prof. Dr. Anne Sanftenberg of HTW Berlin added that without transaction benchmarks, cash-flow models dominate the conversation. Each new facility helps build that dataset, but for now, credibility rests on the quality of sponsor and preparation.

Jung stressed the distinction between development financing and long-term holds. Development carries acquisition and construction risk; holding exposes investors to occupancy and capex. Lenders treat them very differently, and structuring has to reflect this. Strategic positioning — whether to sell, scale regionally, or build a brand — can tip the balance in credit negotiations.

A recent financing example demonstrated what’s possible. For a new garage park operator with no track record, Trias secured over 60% leverage on total costs and a five-year fixed-rate structure after a 3.5-month process. In a still-niche market, that outcome was far from guaranteed.

REFIRE: The message from Frankfurt was clear. Germany’s garage parks may still be niche, but financing is possible for those who move quickly, arrive with complete documentation, and engage partners who know the right doors to knock on. For everyone else, credit will remain elusive — and waiting for the market to “catch up” is not a strategy.