Q&A
Parking requirements and potential for reduction
0:54:24
·
171 sec
David Rosenberg explains the rationale for including some parking spaces despite the area's transit accessibility. The proposal includes a special permit to reduce parking requirements from 50% to 20%, balancing community demand with cost considerations.
- Community expressed demand for parking despite transit access
- Proposal reduces parking requirement from 50% to 20%
- Parking reduction helps lower construction costs
- Some parking is deemed appropriate, but not at the full 50% required by zoning
- Excavation for foundations creates space for some parking without significant additional cost
Crystal Hudson
0:54:24
Okay.
0:54:27
Proposal includes a special permit to reduce parking requirements, but not eliminate them entirely.
0:54:32
Why include any parking spaces at all in this transit rich part of Brooklyn?
David Rosenberg
0:54:36
So we've heard extensively from the community here that despite that despite the transit access that this neighborhood has, there still is a demand for parking.
0:54:46
And there's still broad concerns about existing parking and that when you have 355 units there will be people with cars, and they will need to go somewhere where there's already a shortage of parking.
0:54:58
And that is why we proposed this production.
0:55:02
It still allows us to provide parking to the extent that the market requires it.
0:55:08
And still requires to provide 20%, and gives us more flexibility if we think that more might be worth having because the community needs it.
0:55:18
But we don't think that eliminating it entirely here would be you know, and I guess this let me say differently, is that there's a larger policy discussion happening in the city about entirely eliminating these parking requirements.
0:55:33
We think that regardless of what happens with reducing those requirements, some amount of parking here is appropriate.
0:55:39
But it's significantly lower than the 50% required by zoning, which is why we've sought the special permit.
Crystal Hudson
0:55:45
Okay.
0:55:45
So just in terms of reducing costs of the project, my understanding is that building, parking below ground is very costly.
0:55:55
So would you consider eliminating parking in order to save money on the project?
David Rosenberg
0:56:02
Yeah.
0:56:02
And that's precisely why we've proposed the reduction, but what also comes down, it's not space dollar for dollar space for space that you take out you take from a 100 spaces to 99 spaces, you save x dollars.
0:56:14
At a certain point, when you have to clear out the space for parking or for that matter, if you have to excavate because you need to put foundations and you have the space for a certain number of parking spaces.
0:56:25
The costs don't change to provide the parking.
0:56:27
It's when you start increasing those numbers of parking spaces to meet the 50% requirement of zoning and you have to start now taking out parts of the 1st floor, taking out retail space, taking out residential space to put in those parking spaces, that's when the costs start to kick in.
0:56:40
And so with this special permit, we think we're striking the right balance by bringing down the construction costs that let us provide the affordable housing that we're trying to do here and also meeting the parking demand without just creating extra parking spaces, driving up construction costs unnecessarily, and just so people have more cars on the street.
0:56:59
It's not what we're trying to do.
Crystal Hudson
0:57:01
So that's the the 20 20%.
0:57:03
You hit that number?
0:57:04
Okay.
0:57:05
Thank you.
0:57:08
And then this is my last question.
0:57:11
What tenants or uses have you considered for the proposed ground floor commercial space?
