Unique ‘carousel’ parking lot accommodating electric vehicles in Strip District

PITTSBURGH — A unique parking concept has come to Pittsburgh’s Strip District, utilizing an automated system that stacks vehicles with a “carousel” mechanism.

“We’re an early stage company but really appreciate Pittsburgh’s desire to be an innovative city and a first mover in this way,” said Diallo Powell, CEO and Co-Founder of Stak Mobility.

In July, the Brooklyn-based startup brought its innovative parking lot to Mulberry Street, attached to the rear of a Penn Avenue apartment building.

“We turned four spaces into 30, going vertically.”

Drivers are able to utilize a mobile app to access the lot, which then parks and stores the vehicle. Each space is able to charge electric vehicles.

“We are the first in the world to bring together automated parking, EV charging, along with this mobile self-service experience, so, globally, we are the first ones ever to deploy this in this way,” Powell told Channel 11.

While the company has launched parking lots in various other cities nationwide, its development was partially inspired by past ingenuity in Pittsburgh.

“This technology originally was created by Westinghouse Corporation in Pittsburgh in the 1920s,” he said. “It went overseas, they perfected it in Asia, and we’re really bringing it back. So, 100 years later, we’re bringing this technology back home to Pittsburgh, which we’re really excited about.”

While the Strip District lot is currently only available to residents of the attached apartment building, Stak is eyeing a second location in Pittsburgh, which would be open to the public.

Powell can’t yet reveal where exactly the development may take place, but called it an “ideal” downtown location for visitors. He hopes to have it up and running by the end of 2024.

The lots are able to hold electric and non-electric vehicles.

“That’s what we love about it, because we can grow into the growth of electric vehicles,” he said. “As (electric vehicle) adoption grows, we can accommodate that... so it’s really a future-ready solution and I think that’s what developers like about it.”

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