How Latitude 49 turned visitor parking into a revenue and enforcement asset

Story topics

Student Housing, Visitor Parking, QR Code Reservations, Scan to Pay, Paid Parking, Enforcement, Analytics & Reporting

Kayla Ray of Latitude 49 Apartments discusses student housing parking management with ParkStash

Kayla Ray, Senior General Manager at Latitude 49 Apartments, shares how ParkStash changed visitor parking, enforcement, and revenue for her community near UNC Charlotte.

About Latitude 49 Apartments

Latitude 49 Apartments is an off-campus student-housing community near the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, managed as part of the Scion Group portfolio.

People behind the results

Results at a glance

The challenge

A 48-hour visitor-parking limit communicated resident-to-guest left enforcement inconsistent and guests uninformed.

QR code visitor parking

QR code signage in the visitor parking sections let guests self-register on arrival, removing the resident's responsibility entirely.

Analytics and enforcement

Visitor frequency and duration data helped identify unauthorized guests and potential lease violations.

Paid parking revenue

Visitor parking income — previously uncaptured — was reinvested into community amenities including gym equipment.

Smooth rollout

Staged 30/14/7/1-day resident notices produced a launch with no complaints.

The Challenge: Visitor Parking Ran on Resident Goodwill

Latitude 49 Apartments had a 48-hour visitor-parking limit, but the policy depended on residents communicating it to their guests. When guests were not told — or residents simply forgot — enforcement became reactive and inconsistent. There was no way for a guest to self-register, no way for the team to see who was parking, and no mechanism to capture income from visitor spaces that were in regular use.

For a student-housing community near the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, that gap created both a compliance problem and a missed revenue opportunity. Kayla Ray, Senior General Manager, needed a student housing parking management approach that would put guests in charge of their own registration — without requiring a call to the office or a reminder from their host.

The Approach: QR Code Signage at Every Space

QR code signage went up in the visitor parking sections so guests could self-register on arrival. Instead of learning the visitor policy from a resident, guests scan the code, select a duration, and pay — all before walking through the door. The resident is no longer responsible for informing their guest or remembering to remind them.

That shift from resident-communicated to guest-initiated registration is the core change. QR code parking reservations and Scan to Pay give guests a self-service path that works around the clock, without involving the onsite team.

The cost for us is so little compared to the income that we receive from it.

Analytics: Kayla's Favourite Feature — and a Lease-Compliance Tool

When asked which ParkStash feature she values most, Kayla names analytics and reporting without hesitation. In student housing, the data is more than an operational convenience — it can surface patterns that indicate unauthorized occupancy.

Tracking visitor frequency and duration gave the Latitude 49 team a clearer picture of who was parking at the property and how often. When a guest appeared repeatedly over extended periods, the data gave Kayla's team a factual basis for follow-up conversations about potential lease violations — something that would have been nearly impossible to document under the previous system.

That operational visibility is what parking analytics and reporting makes possible: not just a record of who parked, but a tool for managing the community.

Analytics and data — that is my most favourite feature.

Turning Visitor Parking Income Into Community Amenities

Before ParkStash, visitor parking at Latitude 49 was free — and the community captured none of that value. Paid parking changed that. The income Kayla generates through visitor parking goes directly back into the community: she used it to purchase a stair stepper for the gym and plans to keep adding amenities each month.

When Kayla reviews her property's monthly budget variances, parking income appears as a clear offset. The math is visible, the reinvestment is tangible, and residents benefit from amenities that the community's own parking activity funds.

Where's the offset? And I can select parking income as my offset.

A Staged Rollout With No Complaints

Kayla anticipated that a new paid visitor-parking policy would generate questions. Her team sent notices at 30 days, 14 days, 7 days, and 1 day before launch — giving residents time to understand the change, ask questions early, and arrive at launch day prepared.

The result: no complaints on launch day. For student-housing teams considering a similar transition, Kayla's advice is that communication is the work. When residents understand why the change is happening and what it means for them, the rollout takes care of itself.

Enforcement: Citations, Tows, and a Clear Audit Trail

Paid visitor parking is only as effective as the enforcement behind it. Latitude 49 uses the ParkStash Enforcer App to document parking activity in the field, and connects that to parking citation and tow management workflows when violations require follow-up.

The Enforcer App is also used directly by the local tow company contracted with the property. When a tow is executed, the tow company records it through the app using the tow record feature — capturing the reason for the tow and creating a timestamped, documented audit trail. That record means there is no ambiguity about why a vehicle was towed, which protects the property and eliminates disputes before they start.

The cost is small. The income is real.

Kayla Ray describes a straightforward return on investment at Latitude 49: the parking income Kayla brings in through ParkStash consistently outweighs the cost of the platform — and that income goes directly back into the community.

The cost for us is so little compared to the income that we receive from it.

ParkStash capabilities used

• QR code reservations — Give guests a self-service path to register visitor parking directly at the space, without involving the resident.
• Scan to Pay — Offer QR code parking payment flows so guests can pay for visitor parking on arrival.
• Analytics and reporting — Review visitor frequency and duration data to support operational decisions — including lease-compliance follow-up.
• Enforcer app — Equip teams with a mobile workflow for documenting parking activity and supporting enforcement in the field.
• Parking citations — Create a clearer path from a parking violation to citation and collection workflows.
• Tow management — Keep towing activity and tow records connected to the broader parking operation.

Kayla's Recommendation

Sign up. It's worth the investment.

Make Visitor Parking Work Harder for Your Student Housing Community

See how ParkStash connects QR code visitor registration, scan-to-pay payments, enforcement workflows, analytics and reporting, and parking revenue into one platform built for student housing.