New parking near DIA aims to be the "greenest"

The $18.5 million parking facility has solar panels to generate power for electric-vehicle "juicebars" (recharging stations), wind turbines on site, locally produced geothermal energy for heating and cooling, and high-efficiency LED lights.

The aim is to be to be the "greenest" parking facility in the world, said John Schmid, chief executive officer with Propark America, which helped build it.

The car park will offer an indoor valet parking service for $18 a day, a covered self-park option for $14 a day and open-air parking for $9 a day, Schmid said.

Canopy has hired 100 employees, he said, after about 1,500 people attended a job fair sponsored by the company.

Propark chief development officer Tom Bechard said the new parking operation will maintain competitive prices with other private lots, and DIA itself, while offering extra amenities for travelers.

DIA's parking garages also charge $18 a day; DIA's valet parking service charges $27 a day.

The Denver airport operates more than 40,000 parking spaces on its property, but Schmid contends there's a market for Canopy's service. "We're going to treat you like a hotel guest," he said.

The valet service allows travelers to drop off and pick up their vehicles in the company's climate-controlled indoor facility, Bechard said.

Call or text when you land, and Canopy's employees will have the vehicle ready and waiting for you in an indoor spot after you arrive at the lot on the company shuttle bus, Schmid said. The lot is located at 8100 Tower Road, just north of Peña Boulevard.

The company has 500 spaces for its indoor valet service, another 1,000 in the covered self-park area and 2,700 open-air self-park spaces. Canopy's operation is across Tower Road from USAirport Parking, another private, off-airport lot. USAirport charges $9 a day for open parking and $14 a day for covered spaces, which are under carport-style shelters.

Bechard said the traveling public sometimes has the perception that off-airport parking is far away. To that, he added, "We're like Mom; we drop you off at the terminal."