When The Cohen Group undertook its most significant expansion to date by doubling the size of its centre to over 39,000 sqm and becoming one of Adelaide’s most prestigious retail destinations, the goal was to create a world-class customer experience that extended beyond the centre and shops. A key part of that vision was transforming how visitors accessed and navigated the centre. To achieve this, the Cohen Group had no hesitation to appoint Park Agility, an industry leader in intelligent car park management and wayfinding technology. 

A Long-Term Approach to Property Excellence  

Founded on a philosophy of long-term stewardship and investment, the Cohen Group manages a substantial property portfolio entirely based in South Australia. From commercial and industrial sites to a significant retail centre, their assets are home to some of the country’s most recognised tenants, including Orrcon Steel, Chemist Warehouse, and Laminex. 

As well as being family-owned, The Cohen Group’s approach is supported by professional discipline and forward planning. Chaired by an independent chair and four family members, the business is known for its willingness to invest today to deliver better outcomes tomorrow. As Projects General Manager Richard Stabile explains, “the Group is willing to embrace investing upfront to ensure the long term life cycle benefit to property and position ourselves to be leaders in technology for our tenants/customers and the wider community benefit. We take pride in our assets and treat our tenants as long-term partners.” 

The Jewel in the Crown: Burnside Village 

Among The Cohen Group’s 15 assets, Burnside Village stands as the flagship retail icon renowned for its luxury and premium shopping experience and lifestyle ecosystem. Following its recent significant expansion including introducing 2 new basement levels of free undercover parking and extending our offering to almost 1600 car park spaces throughout the centre, the Group saw an opportunity to enhance the customer journey from the very first touchpoint: the decision to visit the centre and use its car park facilities.  

“An enjoyable and seamless customer experience has always been top of our list,” says Richard. “You can have the best retail centre in Australia, but if the car park experience doesn’t match, then you’re already behind the eight ball so to speak.” 

Choosing Park Agility: A Focus on Innovation and Flexibility 

The decision to engage Park Agility was driven by the Group’s desire for a state-of-the-art, best-in-class parking management system. Burnside Village already had an earlier-generation car park guidance system installed in 2010, but as Richard notes, “The technology had served its time. We wanted something more up to date dern, flexible, and capable of providing both operational insights and customer convenience.” 

Park Agility’s smart parking system replaced the old infrastructure entirely, delivering a new standard in wayfinding, usability, and data reporting. Across multiple basement levels, the new installation now provides real-time car park availability, LED guidance lighting, dynamic entry signage, and integration for licence plate recognition (LPR) that may be adopted at a later stage.   

Transforming the Customer Journey with Smarter Wayfinding  

Today, Burnside Village customers experience seamless, stress-free parking from the moment they arrive. Digital entry signs display the number of available bays on each level, while colour-coded indicators (green for available, red for occupied, pink for baby parks, blue for accessible, yellow green for EV) guide drivers to the nearest available space quickly and intuitively. 

The system’s flexibility has proven one of its strongest assets. “If we want to change the colours, the layout, or the messaging, it’s simple and easy,” explains Richard. “Even our loading bays are equipped with live parking bay availability  signage, so delivery drivers can immediately see which bays are available, thereby improving flow, reducing congestion and ultimately leading to greater efficiency.” 

This level of clarity improves convenience; and importantly enhances safety and accessibility for all users, ensuring equitable access to parking throughout the site. 

Behind the Scenes: Data, Insights, and Operational Efficiency 

Beyond the visible benefits for customers, Park Agility’s platform delivers powerful back-of-house analytics for the Cohen Group. The system provides  accurate, real-time reporting on occupancy, dwell times, and usage patterns, allowing the management team to make current data decisions about car park operations.  

“We can see exactly how long people are staying and where the parking hot spots are.” Richard says. “We can produce heat maps to identify which areas are used most often and which are underutilised and adjust our signage accordingly.” 

This data-driven approach helps Burnside Village continuously refine its car park utilisation, ensuring customers can always find a space quickly while maximising efficiency across the entire facility. 

Behind Collaboration, Flexibility, and Proactive Support  

For Richard, one of Park Agility’s standout qualities is the collaborative working relationship. “They’re incredibly flexible,” he says. “If we want to change something, we call them, and it is sorted. Their technicians are highly trained, approachable, proactive, and solution focused.”  

This partnership approach extended throughout the project, from the design and installation phase through to fine-tuning sensor angles and ensuring the system adapted to Burnside Village’s unique layout, including larger-than-average bay lengths. “They came to the table straight away with a custom solution. Nothing was too hard.”  

The collaboration also extended to integration with other contractors and systems. Park Agility collaborated seamlessly with the main builder and with the Veyor System, which manages Burnside’s loading bay operations, ensuring data integration across platforms. 

Behind Collaboration, Flexibility, and Proactive Support  

The Cohen Group’s investment in Park Agility technology is more than infrastructure; it is about reinforcing their commitment to providing a luxury/premium customer experience. Every design choice, from the signage placement to the flexibility of the system, was made with the customer and their shopping experience in mind. 

“Customer experience is everything,” says Stabile. “Our priority is making it easy for people to park, shop, and leave without frustration. Park Agility helped us to achieve that  objective.”   

Since the system went live, Burnside Village has seen smoother traffic flow, improved wayfinding, and overwhelmingly positive feedback from our customers and users. The Cohen Group now has the tools and insights to maintain that standard for years to come. 

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