Parking in any historic city is, as Panamanians usually say, “tricky”. And Casco is no exception! what is exceptional is how Casco Parking was born: an alliance between neighbors to try and contribute with a private solution that would improve the experience for everyone visiting or living in Casco.
Casco Parking offers private parking to residents, visitors and businesses. Today, we are interviewing its General Manager, Alejandro Leal, so he can tell us a bit about the company and how they work.
- How did Casco Parking begin? I understand that it was a group of companies that decided to try to help with the parking issue in Casco? How was it?
ALEJANDRO: The idea for Casco Parking came from Conservatorio S.A. and the need for businesses that wanted to improve the experience of visitors to Casco Antiguo. At the time, the existing valet parking was disorganized and even illegal, and the idea was to create a company that would organize this lack of control and manage this resource. As a result, a company was created to provide valet parking services in a cordial and safe manner, and shareholders include Casco residents, property owners, business owners and developers of Casco Antiguo, not so much expecting a return on investment but to invest in a solution that could improve the experience of visiting or living in Casco Antiguo.
- How does the Casco Parking system work? Do they have long contracts? Can I park my car if I come to dinner? What about pricing?
ALEJANDRO: We have two types of contracts that are: daytime from Monday to Saturday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. this contract is aimed at people working in Casco and the cost is $80 dollars per month. We have the full-time parking which a person can use from Monday to Sunday during hour hours of operation and your vehicle can spend the night in the parking lot at no additional cost, this is for an amount of $120 per month. This contract is more aimed at residents. If you come to visit or dine at a Casco business you can park with us for $5 for the whole day, we work with a single daily rate.
- Where are you located? What are your opening hours?
ALEJANDRO: We are located on Avenida Demetrio Brid, between 6th and 8th street in Casco Viejo, you can look for us on our social networks, Waze (Casco Parking), Google Maps (Casco Parking) Instagram (@cascoparking) or Facebook (Casco Parking).
Our current schedule is: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. until the curfew is lifted by the national government.
- Tell me a little bit about the security measures: do you have security personnel, camera, light? Is there any type of insurance for the cars inside?
ALEJANDRO: We have the security measures and Bio Security necessary for the proper functioning of our business, with trained personnel to serve our customers. In addition, we have civil liability and third-party liability insurance in case of an accident within our facilities.
- Little by little the country is reopening and hopefully soon we will have events. What capacity does the parking lot have? What services have you provided for events?
ALEJANDRO: Our operational capacity is 110 vehicles in self parking mode. We have provided valet parking services to: American Trade Hotel, Dekel Holdings, Hotel Central, Casa Casco, Fishería and other Casco venues, as well as for clients outside Casco Viejo such as the Panama Film Fest and the filming of Suicide Squad 2.
- Do they provide services directly to restaurants and shops?
ALEJANDRO: Yes, we are currently not providing valet service, but we service the parking needs of all commercial premises that wish to do so, among the premises and companies that we currently serve are: Tántalo, Conservatorio, CCA Building, Edificar Panamá, Mail Boxes Etc, K&B Real State Services, Banco General, AMT arquitectura y montajes técnicos Panama, among others.
