Uber-like valet parking may come to Dayton’s Fire Blocks District

A new service is planned for the Fire Blocks District that allows drivers to get valet parking with a press of a button on their smartphones.

Cincinnati-based Divine Services Corp. offers an on-demand valet service that allows customers to drop off and pick up their vehicles anywhere within defined service areas using an app on their smartphones.

The company currently operates in downtown Cincinnati but plans to bring its “groundbreaking” mobile app technology to the Fire Blocks District, said Sukhmanjit Singh, vice president and general manager of the company.

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“Our mobile app is similar to Uber, but for valet parking,” he said.

Using the app, drivers will be able to drop a pin at their desired location within the Fire Blocks service area and a valet will meet them there, Singh said.

Users will be able to get their vehicle returned to them at the same spot or any other location within the District, he said.

“This allows visitors to patronize multiple venues within the District with the ultimate convenience of valet parking on-demand,” he said.

Vehicles will be taken to secured parking lots and garages owned by the Fire Blocks District.

MORE: Dayton’s Fire Blocks development: ‘We are doing an entire neighborhood’

The app is available in the App Store and Google Play. Several restaurants in the Oregon District have used valet parking to make it easier on customers.

Divine Services would be a parking solution for the Fire Blocks District, which is centered around the 100 block of East Third Street, said Eric VanZwieten, head of marketing and public relations for the Windsor Companies, which is developing the district.

“You roll up right to where you’re going, you get out, your car is taken care of, and when you are ready to leave, it comes back,” he said.

Windsor Companies currently owns two parking lots and one garage and could use another nearby garage. Windsor Companies expects to have around 500 parking spaces near the Fire Blocks District.

Across the nation, some on-demand valet services struggled and shut down because they could not turn a profit, according to Reuters.

The valet service should be ready launch in time for the opening of the Fire Blocks District’s new housing, restaurants, bars and cafes, VanZwieten said.

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