Luxury Developer In Chelsea Wants A Parking Spot For Every Unit

CHELSEA, NY — The developer for a luxury building with views of the Hudson River wants a one-to-one ratio of parking spaces to units, representatives for the developer announced at a recent Community Board 4 committee meeting.

Related Companies' two-tower development, linked beneath the High Line and just a block from Hudson River Park, is requesting a special permit from the Department of City Planning for 139 additional parking spaces to add to its 41 parking spaces allowed as-of-right, or without additional approvals.

Developer rep Jerry Johnson of Fox Rothschild LLP argued the additional parking would be a helpful addition to the Chelsea neighborhood.

"We believe that actually by providing parking here, even if it's one-to-one ratio, it's servicing actually a larger area," Johnson told the CB 4 Chelsea Land Use Committee last Thursday. "Because if not all the spots are [taken] in this garage, neighbors can rent them for their cars. It keeps the cars local instead of circling for [street] parking."

"It's freeing up street space and making circulation better," Johnson said at a meeting that had largely thinned out following a two-hour discussion regarding an affordable co-op development in the neighborhood. "That's what we believe."

The CB 4 committee didn't buy it.

Some board members noted the new development is located in a pedestrian-heavy, tourist-heavy area with bike paths lining the Hudson River. It is also a 10-minute walk to the A, C, and E lines at 14th St. and Eighth Ave.

As one committee member put it: "One-to-one ratio is unheard of in Chelsea."

"I am very sternly opposed to the whole god-d--- thing," said another meeting attendee. "We've got enough cars in Chelsea. ... I wouldn't give them another spot."

The 180-unit development at 515 W. 18th St. is expected to be ready for occupancy sometime next year.

An environmental review of the project found the below-ground parking garage would not have significant impacts to the environment.

But referencing a previous 2015 CB 4 resolution denying one-to-one ratio parking, Betty Mackintosh, co-chair of the committee, said the board has come to the conclusion that calculations currently used to allow such a high ratio of parking is flawed.

"The nature of the neighborhood has changed dramatically from when those calculations were set forth," Mackintosh said. "This area has a high-degree of pedestrian traffic in it."

"One could make the case that the proposal is inconsistent with the existing streetscape as it is now," she added.

Johnson said the site was formerly where Roxy nightclub and a 239-car parking lot was located. Some 30 percent of those previous spaces were set aside residents, so, developer reps argued, so over 70 people in the neighborhood are looking for parking.

The garage would be fully-attended 24/7 and reduce the number of curb cuts at that intersection, according to Johnson.

The application for the garage is currently snaking through the public review process known as the uniform land use review procedure (ULURP).

The committee denied the parking pitch with 7 votes based on the board's historical position on such parking-asks. Two people abstained. The resolution will go to vote at the CB 4 full board meeting on March 6.