How CityParking Got its Start in Richmond
CityParking Co-Founder Dave Sharrar has spent decades in the parking industry. Before starting CityParking, Dave was controller at the largest family-owned parking company in Richmond. Following an acquisition, he stepped into the role of Regional Manager for 7 years.
Meanwhile, Dave’s son David Sharrar was working in the parking industry in Boston, Massachusetts before returning to Richmond to assist with valet and facility management roles.
In 2004, Dave and Gloria Sharrar worked together to launch CityParking, Inc. in Richmond, Virginia. The very first management contract was for 801 East Main Street, a commercial office building with surface and structured parking. In the first year, our team took on a total of 6 managed locations.
By 2008, CityParking had grown to 22 managed locations and became the first parking operator in Virginia to start using ParkMobile as a payment option. Over the years our parking lot upgrades continued with pay-on-foot kiosks for surface lots, which later evolved into Flash PARCS systems, and most recently into our new LPR-based on-foot enforcement system (T2 Upsafety).
The company’s growth continued to skyrocket with Inc5000 recognizing CityParking as one of the country’s fastest growing companies in 2011. Locally we became one of Richmond’s Top 25 fastest growing companies, according to Richmond Bizsense in 2018. By this point our team was managing 42 locations.
CityParking currently operates in Richmond, Norfolk and Fredericksburg. Our parking footprint serves commercial lots including the James Center and convenient lots for recreation and dining. As of 2024, our managed lots have increased 866% alongside a 1215% increase in revenue.