City to abolish developers’ Downtown Brooklyn parking requirement

The Department of City Planning is about to park some good news upon Downtown Brooklyn developers.

The Brooklyn Paper reported that a new City Planning proposal would reduce the number of parking spaces required in residential developments in Downtown Brooklyn and completely eliminate the mandate from below-market-rate buildings. The proposal will be presented within a few months.

“Every developer out there would love to see Brooklyn with reduced parking minimums,” said David Behin, a partner at MNS, which One Brooklyn Bridge Park. “At the end of the day, it makes development harder to do.”

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The current rule, which requires off-street parking for as much as half of its units, forces developers to create parking which often isn’t in demand with Brooklyn residents. At the Avalon Fort Greene, the Brooklyner, DKLB BKLN and Oro condominiums, just half of the available spaces are taken, Brooklyn Paper said.

The city also believes it hinders affordable-housing projects because developers fear the mandatory parking lots will sit empty and lose money.

While developers and transit activists support the move, other Brooklyn residents, like those near the Barclays Center, fear the lack of parking would generate a traffic nightmare. [Brooklyn Paper]