All respectable commercial property owners want to keep their business competitive in the eyes of potential and current tenants. One way to earn that respect is by continuously upgrading your property’s facilities.

There are many ways you can go about sprucing up your property. From giving it a paint job to adding additional floor space, the list of options is near limitless—and they can all be great boosts to business credibility.

That said, if you’ve run through the list of common building upgrade options to find out that none of them are viable or within budget, then we have a potential solution for you—a car park shade structure.

Providing shade to cars is something that’s often overlooked but has a tonne of benefits. From keeping customer property safe to elevating your exterior’s look, the installation of this structure can be a quick and easy way to stand out in the crowded commercial property market.

Not fully convinced of the advantages of shade for your property’s car park? Without further ado, here are some compelling reasons why this addition may be worthwhile.

Let’s start!

1. Encourages Customer Visits

Customers and prospecting tenants want to experience a high degree of convenience and comfort when they make an effort to drive and park at your place. 

Sure, your property may contain a huge parking lot, but if your parking lot lacks adequate shade, this can force them to make the decision to take their business to a similar competitor’s store instead—losing you a sales-generating opportunity.

Having said that, providing shade is a good way to appease your prospecting customers’ parking-related fussiness. 

A car park shade structure can be installed to cover a wide area of parking lot slots, granting you the ability to keep your customers and their cars safe. This, in turn, helps make them feel less friction when doing business with you.

And of course, when your customers know what to expect when returning to your office space, they’ll feel a general sense of contentment knowing that their car is well-shaded. They may even spread your business’s thoughtfulness to other potential clients!

2. Provides an Aesthetic Focal Point

Want your property’s exterior to look good, even if you don’t have a garden or a gazebo? 

Instead of squeezing your creative juices dry with a garden overhaul or spending thousands on an outdoor space improvement plan, a car park shade structure can serve as an attractive and cost-effective focal point for your commercial property.

While it’s true that the primary reason for its existence is its functional properties, you can set up and install a car park shade structure in a way that’s visually striking. 

Specifically, these structures come in various designs and materials, allowing you to customise them in a way that complements your architecture and landscape.

For instance, if your building has a specific theme or colour scheme going for it, you can request your shade structure provider to follow that particular theme. If you want a specific finish for your shade structure, you can get that done as well!

A shade structure helps elevate your building’s sophistication and design. In turn, this can attract potential tenants and foot traffic—allowing you to maximise your business’s profitability.

3. Increases Property Value

Putting up a shade structure may seem like an unnecessary business expenditure, but it’s essential to treat it as an investment. 

These structures are durable and can withstand all weather conditions for fifteen years or more (granted that you properly maintain them), allowing you to score in on a property value boost in the event that you plan to sell your commercial lot to another party.

If you are lucky, the increase in the value of the property can exceed the installation cost of the shade structure. This can make you earn your initial expenses back, and then some.

Furthermore, the extra features can also boost your property’s desirability, making it easier for you to justify a higher price in listings, or at the very least, have an upper hand in negotiations.

4. Protects Cars from Sun Exposure

For many individuals, their car is one of their most expensive and cherished possessions. Naturally, these car owners go to great lengths to protect it and ensure it stays in top condition for as long as possible.

Prolonged exposure to sunlight, particularly UV rays, can chip away the car’s paint job and cause it to look worse for wear. The paint can even peel off as a response to sunlight overexposure, which can make your client’s car look worn out and less attractive.

A particularly bad heat wave can even cause the interior to overheat, causing the plastic materials inside the car’s interior to deteriorate.

A shade structure made for cars circumvents this issue by reducing the severity of sunlight penetration to your car’s exterior frame. 

The reduced sun exposure allows your car to remain in good condition over time, helping encourage prospecting clients who want to protect their car’s quality to choose your property over other spaces.

5. Protects Assets from Elements

Besides sun exposure, there are instances in nature that can wreak havoc on the durability of cars. 

Hail storms, for instance, can dent cars and cause massive damage to the car frame and windows. Constant downpours—particularly in areas with a high acid rain concentration—can be a major source for car paint to fade more quickly.

Even if the weather is good, things can still affect unshaded cars negatively. For instance, branches can fall on top of cars, causing dents and scratches. 

Or, if your car parking lot is directly situated below the building, things may accidentally fall from higher floors and damage the car roofs.

To ensure that these things won’t pose a problem to your clientele’s cars, it’s important that you set up a shade structure to protect your commercial property.

6. Promotes Energy Efficiency

It’s typically the case for hot spaces to cool down at a slower rate than room-temperature spaces. This phenomenon is all too familiar for car drivers who are intimately aware of the effects of prolonged sun exposure on one’s vehicle.

Given the increased time of cooling the vehicle, it’s common for car owners to spend more on gasoline to make up for the energy loss. That said, this issue won’t be a big problem for car owners who park their cars under the shade.

While your car will still heat up if it’s hot out under shade, it’s not going to rise to the same core temperature of an unshaded car in the same amount of time. 

This not only makes cooling the car faster when booted on, but it also makes customers feel comfy quicker and less stressed in anticipation of returning to a potentially scorching car after work.

7. Ensures Customer Safety

A shade structure can be a great safety addition to your property. There are several reasons for this.

For one, a shade structure protects you from the sun’s bright rays. This makes it easier for you to navigate without having to squint your eyes or direct them away from the window to avoid the brightness.

Secondly, shade structures provide you with a space (through its base column) to install a CCTV camera. This can help deter criminal activity like theft and break-ins.

Lastly, your customers will also avoid extreme temperatures inside their cars because of the shade structure. This helps avoid heat-related problems like heat stroke.

8. Helps Maintain Competitiveness

Another simple reason for you to consider upgrading your car park to include a shade structure is to keep up with or overtake your competitors. 

In the commercial property industry, particularly if you’re leasing out spaces, your prospects are very likely researching and vetting multiple space options to house their corporate offices. 

If you want to stand out, or not fall off from the pickings, then you can consider putting up a shaded car park as a value-adding perk to sway the interest of companies your way.

With some shade, you’re guaranteeing clients their comfort and convenience before and after work. You’re also promoting their peace of mind.

All of these factors can be leveraged to stand out in a sea of competitors, allowing you to more easily score your next tenant.