I’ve always been drawn to “up-by-their bootstraps” success stories — the ones where people rewrite the rules through hard work and determination. Alejandra “Alex” Argudin, the CEO of the Miami Parking Authority, is an example of just how far that kind of grit can take you.
Born in Miami and raised in Little Havana, Argudin had to take on adult responsibilities at a young age after her father died. At 14, she landed a job through a summer youth program answering phones for the city to help support her family. She reckons that by the time she turned 16, she was probably earning more money than her mother did working in a factory.
While the job taught her discipline, it also instilled in her a love of community and an appreciation of the positive impact public servants can have on their communities. Argudin stuck with it, and over the next 14 years climbed the municipal ranks, eventually becoming assistant director for the city’s Department of Public Facilities.
In 2006, she jumped over to the Miami Parking Authority, a quasi-government agency, as its chief development officer. Her first assignment was managing the construction of Courthouse Center, a $42-million, mixed-used facility designed to replace a 50-year-old city garage in downtown Miami. It was the agency’s first big project in more than a decade, and Argudin’s connections across the city greased the skids. The project was finished in 18 months.
When the Great Recession brought development to a screeching halt, Argudin pivoted to the operations department. She served as the MPA’s chief operations officer for nearly nine years, before rising to CEO in 2020.
During her five years at the MPA’s helm, Argudin has established herself as one of the nation’s most innovative parking industry leaders, piloting new technologies and spearheading public-private deals to transform decaying parking structures into mixed-use projects that include much-needed workforce housing.
One of those projects will redevelop the 52-year-old College Station Garage in downtown Miami into two, 48-story condo towers with 1,200 apartment units, including 180 workforce housing units. The development will also include retail space and 1,357 parking spaces — and it won’t cost the MPA a dime. The Related Group and ROVR Development, the joint developers of the project, will foot the entire cost and pay the MPA millions per year in rent over the course of a 99-year lease.
Today, the MPA has five development projects on the horizon. “Developers never looked at us before — we were never on their radar — and now they knock on our door,” Argudin says, noting that some are in places where the MPA doesn’t even have a parking structure. “Those are my favorite projects to work on, because they’re going to leave a mark.”
A self-described “parking nerd,” Argudin also is experimenting with a range of new technologies to save residents time and hassle.
One blockbuster achievement was the implementation of a “free flow” parking system at LoanDepot Park, where the Miami Marlins play. Before its launch in 2022, patrons might spend anywhere from 45 to 120 minutes driving the last mile to the ballpark. The main point of friction, it turned out, was the cashiering process — so the MPA and the Marlins eliminated it.
Now, attendees simply drive into any of the Marlins parking garages or lots and park in any available spot. Payments are made through an app. The system has cut the time fans spend sitting in last-mile traffic by 75%. It’s also cut operational costs by about $300,000 per year and increased fan spending on concessions and store merchandise since they have more time to spare.
Argudin has more in store. She’s been talking to the folks at Audi and says the automobile manufacturer is working on integrating an automated payment system into vehicles that would allow drivers to pay for parking with just the press of a button. “I’m dying for them to test it here,” she says.
She’s also working on implementing a curb management system to help reduce the double-parking, idling and general clogging of roadways by Ubers, Lyfts and delivery vehicles. The project will create designated areas known as “smart loading zones,” where delivery drivers can load and unload passengers or goods. Fleet operators will be able to make payments for their curb use via GPS-enabled technology. A similar system in Pittsburgh has reduced double parking by 93%, she says.
It’s no matter, though, whether the solutions are high-tech or low-tech — Argudin clearly delights in the problem-solving. She’s been known to knock on doors of businesses whose parking lots she notices are empty at night to ask if the MPA can manage them. “If they let me use their parking lot, that parking lot could serve the restaurants at night,” she says.
Whatever the task, whatever problem needs to be solved, it’s all in a day’s work for the CEO from Little Havana. “People think that we just give tickets all day, but we do a lot more than that,” she says.
— Amy Keller, Executive Editor akeller@floridatrend.com