Highrise Condo Project With Parking In Each Living Room

[M II A II R II K]

Condo With Parking — Just Off the Living Room


December 8, 2011

By Jonathan Welsh

Read More: http://blogs.wsj.com/drivers-seat/20...e-living-room/

.....

Now the Porsche Design Tower, a planned 57-story development in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., is taking a crack at making parking more convenient, with parking spaces inside each apartment. The arrangement essentially gives residents an attached garage like one would find in a suburban home, with the view of a skyscraper.

- “I call them sky mansions,” says developer Gil Dezer, adding that the units’ two-story layouts give them the feel of large houses. But the in-house parking is a departure from most high-end buildings that is designed to appeal in particular to car enthusiasts.

- Dezer said the 135 units, with prices ranging from $2.7 million to $19 million, have a minimum of two parking spaces but as many as four. The cars are isolated from the living space with special fire-suppression and ventilation systems. Buyers have the option, however, of a glass wall that allows easy viewing of vehicles.

- The driver parks the car on a turntable — “Like a lazy Susan,” Dezer said. A robotic arm picks up the vehicle and places it in the elevator, which carries the car and owner to the apartment at 900 feet per minute. There is no driving once the car is in the building. Machines do all the moving. “We wanted to make it dummy-proof,” Dezer said.

- The building has completed the approval phase and sales are expected to begin next year.

.....

[uaarkson]

Good. A high density development that actually gets cars off the street.

[theWatusi]

Let's see if they can find 135 small peckered buyers who are will to spand an assload of money on condo fees to maintain the machinery associated with this individual garage idea.

[M II A II R II K]

Originally Posted by theWatusi

Let's see if they can find 135 small peckered buyers who are will to spand an assload of money on condo fees to maintain the machinery associated with this individual garage idea.

In Florida that's probably one thing where there are plenty of parking spaces. Maybe this can work in metropolises which have condo prices at $10 million or more where those expenses wouldn't make any difference to them. But then again the clientele would be most limited.

[theWatusi]

I could see building individual private garage stalls in the main garage, but having an "attached" garage to your high rise condo is asinine.

[dchan]

Originally Posted by theWatusi

I could see building individual private garage stalls in the main garage, but having an "attached" garage to your high rise condo is asinine.

Ehhh...if I had Bruce Wayne money, I would definitely buy one of these apartments as a sort of spare bachelor pad. That way, you can pick up high priced hookers and bring them directly to your apartment in one fell swoop.

I think they already built one or more of these apartment types in NYC already.

[M II A II R II K]

The I, Robot version of mass parking was way better, when it's feasible to design such a think and for the public.

[SpawnOfVulcan]

It almost seems as if some kind of personalized elevator from each individual parking spot in a main garage would be more feasible and attractive. Essentially, you aren't cutting any more time out of the equation, you're just making it more glamorous. The only way I see this being attractive is to people who truly like being able to show off their cars in their condos and being able to drive them too; otherwise, there are plenty more efficient and feasible options available...

[M II A II R II K]

In Minority Report one of the few things that made sense in that movie was having your pod car attached to your room but it leaves the building from your room on an elevated ramp to an elevated skyway.

[M II A II R II K]

• Video Link

[natelox]

Apartment building in New York with a similar feature:

http://www.200eleventh.com/

http://archrecord.construction.com/p...0-11th-Ave.asp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ-NZSDoFQQ

[brickell]

Originally Posted by theWatusi

Let's see if they can find 135 small peckered buyers who are will to spand an assload of money on condo fees to maintain the machinery associated with this individual garage idea.

You seem to be underestimating the small peckeredness of Miami.

[Alpha]

How long does it take to park a car in the sky garage? Which is the maximum size and weight of cars that can be parked there? How big is the danger that the system can damage a car? And the greatest problem is, the case of blackout, as then you can not use your car!

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by Alpha

How long does it take to park a car in the sky garage? Which is the maximum size and weight of cars that can be parked there? How big is the danger that the system can damage a car? And the greatest problem is, the case of blackout, as then you can not use your car!

As far as structural implications, the PSF live loads for parking floors and residential floors are nearly identical. No weight limits or restrictions would need to be posted unless you are driving a tank. But keeping the vehicle size limited to a large SUV wouldn't create any unusual considerations. Unless someone wants to speak otherwise, it's pretty safe to assume even vibration from a vehicle driving off the lift into the garage spot would be pretty negligible from normal highrise garage construction since the vehicle would presumably move at slow speeds off the lift.

The freight elevator in my apartment building has a 10,000 lb limit. A large SUV weights between 5000 - 7000 llbs. But a car elevator runs more often under large loads so it requires different equipment....but again nothing extraordinarily unusual in shaft construction from residential buildings that have car elevators. The one in the video above is pretty slow, and I think that's the case with robotic elevators. The ones without turntables and tracks tend to run much faster than that.

If I were to design a skyscraper with garages on each floor, I'd probably consider an elevator that's large like you see at shopping centers that could lift more than one vehicle. The single vehicle cabs you see tend to be operated by valet instead of residents. I feel that as drivers get too comfortable they may drive into the cab too fast and slide into the back wall. I rented in a self-park elevator garage for a month, and I bumped the wall of the elevator but I had a really crappy truck and the light signal was a bit off. Normally you drive in and a light is green (to keep moving forward) and then red to stop when you've reached a point where the back gate of the elevator can close. It's too slow a process and I think a more spacious elevator is necessary unless you employ a fully robotic track mechanism were the car is actually placed into the spot inside the garage instead of actually driven.

[Alpha]

A further problem at this concept are the exhausts of the cars, requiring a good ventilation system.