Commercial real estate was one of the industries hardest hit by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with many businesses turning away from the traditional in-person office in favor of remote work. And as workforces proved that productivity isn’t necessarily tied to a physical office space, and many workers claiming that the lack of a commute and increased freedoms afforded by working from home were enough to make them loathe to return to the office, many businesses have declared this once-temporary implementation of remote work to be a permanent change.

This means that office buildings are emptying out at an unprecedented rate. At the same time, the remote work revolution has freed up people to no longer need to live in a certain proximity to their job—and this newfound freedom is reflected in the ongoing boom in movement and relocation. In many instances, this means large apartment complexes, particularly in urban areas, are starting to empty out.

So what do you do with all this open office and apartment space? Convert it into “pop-up” hotel rooms, of course. There’s currently a trend in New York where unused commercial real estate and apartment spaces are being rented out, Airbnb-style, to create a new revenue stream for the property manager. And it’s working, ironically because the same locational freedom causing people to flee these spaces for working and living also allows individuals the opportunity to travel. And travelers need places to stay.

But there’s another piece of this puzzle that’s often ignored: the parking spaces. Many of the apartments and offices have adjoining parking areas that are also going unused. Fortunately, there’s a way to monetize those assets as well, and in a similar style. New technology and networks transform unused parking spots into rentable options for drivers and to profits for building owners and parking managers.

Parking is in high demand these days, with ongoing pandemic concerns making public transit an uncertain option for many commuters. Many areas, especially in cities, simply don’t have the traditional parking infrastructure to accommodate the influx of cars, which is why transforming unused parking spaces in offices and apartments can be such an enticing venture for all involved. During a time when parking is in high demand all the available inventory should be made available.

Commuters don’t have to spend time circling the block or paying sky-high garage rates. Property owners and parking managers take an otherwise unused space and turn it into a new source of income. And—believe it or not—having all this readily available parking helps make cities quieter, cleaner, and more pedestrian-friendly by removing a significant amount of traffic, and thus congestion and pollution, from the streets. It’s why innovative parking solutions are one of the cutting-edge innovations that will reinvent urban living as we know it and usher in the digital “Smart City” of tomorrow—just like turning empty office space and apartments into rentable “instant hotels” to attract more visitors.

As the intersection of technology and society continues to overlap, construction pros will find more and more areas like this where additional revenue can be unlocked from existing assets. What if a completed parking lot were rented out like this while construction on the adjoining building continued towards completion? Or what if, instead of using angled floors like most older parking garages, you built a new garage with flat floors that could easily be converted to other uses?

Planning for your parking garage to take on a second life as residential or commercial real estate means planning for the future, and that’s always a smart move.

Whatever the future holds, it’s going to be fascinating to watch these trends continue to emerge and develop. It’s been said before but these are truly unprecedented times—and for innovative construction pros with an eye on the future, that means unprecedented possibilities.