Underground car park at Andreas-Hofer-Platz open again

The doors of the central underground car park on Andreas-Hofer-Platz have been open again since 1 August 2024. The 205 parking spaces in the underground car park and the 24 on the above-ground car park are an important pillar of the inner-city traffic concept in Graz and help to significantly relieve the parking situation in the Styrian capital.

In addition to the underground car park on Andreas-Hofer-Platz, the underground car parks “Dominikanerkloster” in Dreihackengasse and “Lendplatz” in Neubaugasse, which are also managed by Contipark, offer attractive parking spaces in the centre of the city. Contipark, one of Austria’s largest car park operators, is investing a six-figure sum in modern technology in Graz.

Extensive renovation of the electrical installations and access road by the owner

The refurbishment of the car park by the owner had become necessary in order to guarantee safety and comfort in the underground car park, which was built in 1964, in the future. To this end, a good four-fifths of the electrical systems underwent extensive refurbishment and large parts of the cable and pipework systems as well as the ventilation system were renewed or extended. The operator Contipark also optimised the parking technology. “Our aim at Contipark is always to provide our customers with safe, affordable and clean car parks. Unfortunately, this sometimes takes a little longer to implement, because safety is our top priority,” says Andreas Knops, member of the Contipark management team and Head of Property Management. Due to the current high demand for parking spaces, especially in the city centre, the underground car park is now in operation, although the visual refurbishment measures have not yet been completed. The plan is to implement the visual refurbishment at a later date.

In the course of the work to unbundle the city centre of Graz, the underground connecting path from the garage in the direction of Steiermärkische Sparkasse was also demolished. A new stairwell had to be built due to the removal of this connecting route. In addition, various minor upgrading works were carried out in the building and the surface car park was also redesigned.

Modern car park technology and contemporary cashless strategy

Contipark has installed a modern parking system from the Graz-based company Arivo at Andreas-Hofer-Platz. The ticketless parking system works with a licence plate recognition system. As in the “Dominikanerkloster” underground car park, the underground car park on Andreas-Hofer-Platz will be operated “cashless” in future. Cash will no longer be accepted. For customers, this means an increase in convenience, as they can make cashless payments directly at the exit by credit card, debit card or with Contipark’s own customer and payment card Pcard. In addition, the downtimes of cashless systems are reduced as manual processes such as processing paper tickets or cash are no longer necessary. “Overall, the new parking technology means an optimisation of the service for our customers,” says Stephan Opitz, member of the Executive Board and Head of Operations.

Inexpensive construction site parking in Graz city centre with the Pcard

Andreas-Hofer-Platz – Car park rates

The rate “per hour or part thereof” with the Pcard, the low-cost Contipark payment card, is 1.50 euros, the “hour or part thereof” costs 5.00 euros. The Pcard daily rate (24 hours) is 10.00 euros, the regular daily rate is 30.00 euros.

Andreas-Hofer-Platz – Underground car park rates

The rate “per hour or part thereof” with the Pcard, the low-cost Contipark payment card, is 1.50 euros, the “hour or part thereof” costs 2.50 euros. The Pcard daily rate (24 hours) is 10.00 euros, the regular daily rate is 25.00 euros.

Dominikanerkloster – Underground car park rates

The rate “per hour or part thereof” with the Pcard, the low-cost Contipark payment card, is 1.50 euros, the “hour or part thereof” costs 2.00 euros. The Pcard daily rate (24 hours) is 4.50 euros, the regular daily rate is 10.00 euros.

Lendplatz – Underground car park rates

The rate “per hour or part thereof” with the Pcard, the low-cost Contipark payment card, is 1.50 euros, the “hour or part thereof” costs 2.00 euros. The Pcard daily rate (0 to midnight) is 16.00 euros, the regular daily rate is 18.00 euros.