At $3,000 over 83 games, the going rate for a private parking space in Southwest D.C. immediately across South Capitol Street from Nationals Park is more expensive than a season-ticket package in the Centerfield Club seats.
“We have all received notes in our mailboxes from people who want to rent our parking spaces on game days, which spaces are owned by each resident as part of our contract when we bought our homes,” Ellen Sandel, a resident of Half Street Southwest, wrote in a Feb. 10 letter to her neighbors. “I understand some people have been offered $3,000 to park for the season.”
Sandel, who will not rent either of her two spaces, urged residents in roughly 65 homes within two blocks of the stadium to put up signs in their private alleys warning Nationals’ fans that they’ll be ticketed and towed if they park there — unless they’ve paid for the right.
Six “No Parking” signs have since been installed at homeowners’ expense, Sandel saidTuesday.
D.C. and team leaders are pleading with fans to take Metro to the ballpark or to park for free at RFK Stadium and take a shuttle to the game. Season-ticket holders have assigned parking in an array of garages and surface lots near the stadium.
For the casual fan, finding legal parking within sight of the park will be, at best, difficult. So let the bidding for private spaces begin.
Alice Valentine, 74, has two spots to rent by her home at the intersection of O and South Capitol streets southwest — a crosswalk away from the stadium gates. She was prepared to lease them for $1,500 each, but now she’s thinking that might not be enough.
“We have to put up with the inconvenience, so why not do that?” said Valentine, who ruled out eBay because she doesn’t use computers. “I mean, as long as we’re going to be here. Get me some renters!”
Residents will call police to have illegally parked cars ticketed and towed, Sandel said.
