Documents show that below-ground Dean St. garage added 469 parking spaces, not the announced 455, to the existing 303 spaces. Wait for a big-event test.

Looking east on Dean Street, from 535 Carlton

So, how many parking spaces are there on Dean Street under the three apartment buildings--535 Carlton and the two-tower 595 Dean--stretching east of Carlton Avenue?

The total is now apparently 772, as 469 spaces under B12/B13 (595 Dean), which opened earlier this year, have been added to the initial 303 spaces under B14 (535 Carlton Avenue), which opened in 2017.

That's according to documents filed with the Department of Buildings. And that's slightly more than the 455 spaces announced earlier--which itself was the product of multiple adjustments.

(There's no parking under the fourth tower on the block, the condo building 550 Vanderbilt.)

Time will tell

I dig into the numbers below, but the bigger question is: what happens if and when several hundred drivers drawn by an arena event all want to enter around the same time or leave at the same time?

As shown below, there's only one way in and out, and it's a relatively narrow space, with one entrance lane and two exit lanes.

Looking straight at the parking entrance on Dean Street

That hasn't happened yet, so far as I know, but keep in mind there have already been bottlenecks when the garage only held 303 spaces. It's not just the garage, it's the limited capacity of the street, given double-parking and periodic fire trucks.

That said, only certain arena events--big concerts attracting seniors, playoff games--attract a greater number of vehicles.

Update

As neighborhood activist Gib Veconi pointed out, a pending water and sewer main project will have even more impact.

Well @nycddc in May 2022 presentation estimated 3 years starting that fall....https://t.co/IHORjET8te
Any update @nycddc @brooklyncb8? pic.twitter.com/Fg2AXQ6NoO

— Norman Oder (@AYReport) December 4, 2023

 

Signage needs update

At the garage

Despite the new total, the signage at the sole entrance to the garage , located on Dean Street just east of Carlton Avenue under B14, still says 303 spaces, as shown in the photo at right.

My query to the parking operator went unanswered.

What we were told

Some might remember that, upon construction of the 595 Dean towers, they were supposed to add 455 spaces, as shown in this November 2019 presentation, as shown in the image below.

From architects' presentation regarding 595 Dean (B12/B13)

Similarly, a zoning diagram submitted to the Department of Buildings in March 2020 cited 455 spaces.

However, the building's March 2023 zoning diagram cited 469 spaces, as does the most recent Certificate of Occupancy, from September 2023. See screenshot at right.

What does it mean?

So, why did builder TF Cornerstone add 14 spaces on that southeast block, Block 1129?

Well, they've never discussed it publicly, but maybe simply because there was room, at minimal additional cost.

But perhaps they can explain at the next public meeting on Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park. 

Then again, those meetings--including previously bi-monthly Quality of Life meeting and the purportedly quarterly Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation meeting--have been delayed. 

And likely the pending foreclosure sale of the six railyard development sites will take priority.

Some of the backstory

Keep in mind that, as I wrote in November 2019, the parking numbers have shifted multiple times. The southeast block of the project site, as studied in 2006, was supposed to have 1,970 spaces, with three entrances. 

The corner of Dean St. and Carlton Ave.

That was later cut to 910 spaces. 

Then it was seemlingly cut to 693 spaces, with one entrance.

The 2019 Amendment to the Modified General Project Plan stated, "The Project will provide 1,000 permanent parking spaces. This consists of 67 spaces that have been delivered on the arena block, 693 spaces on Block 1129, of which 303 spaces are already available at B14, and 240 spaces planned at Site 5."

The announced 455 spaces would have exceed the previous expectation of 390 spaces. 

In response to my query at the time, Empire State Development (ESD), the state authority that oversees/shepherds the project, said the project "requires at least 390 parking spaces at B12 and B13. By delivering a total of 455 parking spaces, the developer would meet (and exceed) that requirement." 

That did not make sense, because the Amendment set specific totals, not the minimums. Now that there are apparently 469 additional spaces, that "requirement" again is met and exceeded.