Perry Finkelman at times sounds like he's describing something from a science-fiction movie. The CEO of Automotion Parking Systems talks of designing machines, manipulating machines—even machines that send text messages. It's not Rise of the Machines he speaks of … not exactly. But the technology that will control the 697-car underground parking garage that Automation plans to build beneath Willoughby Square Park in Downtown Brooklyn very much relies on them. A human driver parks the car on a pallet, and then'puter-operated machines take over: an automated touch screen provides a simple set of directions, and lasers make sure the vehicle is positioned correctly, running a series of safety checks, before'puter-programmed robotics swirl the vehicle to a snug underground resting place.
The city tapped Automotion and its partners to build the $35 million garage following a grueling three-year RFP process. American Development Group, Mr. Finkelman's other'pany, will serve as project manager of the parking lot and the roughly $5 million dollar park above it, which is slated to b'e the epicenter of a $2.5 billion mixed-use cultural center. Mr. Finkelman shared details with The Commercial Observer on what he claims will be the largest automated parking garage of its kind in North America, the technology behind it, his push to make it even greener and the park that will sit above it.
Mr. Finkelman: When this RFP came up, everyone was looking at conventional parking to go underground. There's just no way that it could be properly designed and handle what their target number was, of almost 700 vehicles. We were able to get the exact amount they were looking for in less space—almost three times the amount of parking in the space that was proposed by other vendors—so there was a significant advantage to how we looked at it. I don't know the exact numbers, but the whispered number of the next successful bidder was somewhere between $20 million and $30 million more.The designer is Solomon Rosenzweig with SRPE, and they are the structural engineers for the project.