DOT Plan for Stamford Garage

The Connecticut Department of Transportation recently announced a slightly unconventional plan to open up Stamford's train station parking garage to bid for redevelopment as a mixed use development. The garage, operated by the CT DOT is in poor structural condition and is in need of extensive repair of replacement. The backup plan calls to replace the old garage with a newer one with added capacity (1,000 spots vs. 700) The higher “"risk/ reward" option would transform the space into a yet undefined function. "Mixed use" typically refers though to some combination of retail/ commercial/ residential space and it usually marked with an "active & permeable" street frontage. The developer would be responsible for developing a parking solution in the near vicinity of the train station that meets or exceeds the current garage capacity.

Count me among the cautiously optimistic about the potential outcome.

That's not to say there are not concerns, all of which are valid. Stamford station is a major hub along the metro north line and hundreds of commuters park daily at the station and ride the train. The garage currently stands very conveniently adjacent to the station. Moving the parking further from the station raises issue of inconvenience at best, added commuting time walking or riding a shuttle, and reduction in safety at worst, crossing busy roads or having the garage pushed further into a sometime dicey neighborhood. This would only leave commuters with two options, swallow the inconvenience & bear safety concerns or battle an already congested I95 in their cars. That scenario is obviously the opposite intent desired in "Transit Oriented Development".

So why change a good thing? Won't replacing a garage her just necessitate a garage elsewhere? Why not a mixed use building there? Unfortunately the city seems to be in a situation where the garage needs to be replaced regardless, and total replacement will actually be far cheaper than repairing the existing structure. That is 2+ years of demolition & construction to replace the garage on the same spot. 2+ years of displacing parking for commuters at Connecticut's busiest transit hub is a problem in the making any way you slice it. I recently heard a quote from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel that I find appropriate, "Never let a serious crisis go to waste"

Our Metro North station is a key lynch piece in Stamford's success thus far, helping it function as both a bedroom community for New York and providing convenient access for the reverse commuters coming to work at businesses lured to town by cheaper rents. I do not believe though the asset is fully being leveraged. A a major hub on the Metro North line & stops along the Amtrak, Stamford station is how many experience Downtown Stamford and the city as a whole. It is one of the biggest "billboards" for a city that it is completely walled off from. I95 forms a barrier to the north and the garage walls it from the South End. Breaking a wall and replacing it with an aesthetically pleasing, active building helps develop Stamford into the dynamic, sustainable community it's evolving to become.

Can the guy with the folded up Wall Street Journal and travel mug racing to catch a train appreciate any of that? I still think there are benefits to developing the neighborhood around the station and this plot in particular for commuters that have not been clearly articulated yet. A well designed building functioning as somewhat of a "commuter center" with retail and services focused towards our traveling neighbors has the greatest potential for the garage footprint. Many of these can help commuters save time by eliminating car trips on the way home. A gym to work out in before or after work. A daycare for the rugrats. A cleaner and tailor to drop off clothes. A pharmacy to pick up prescriptions. A market to pick up a prepared meals to bring home for diner. If it is open and attractive to the street, it will also be a benefit to other residents of the South End and act as an asset to this gentrifying neighborhood in general. This type of develop recognizes it is next to the station and provides the most appropriate use. I'd be less enthused about displacing all the commuter parking solely for housing or offices.

Which brings us full circle back to the parking. If the convenience and safety for the park and ride commuters is adequately addressed especially within a very small radius from the existing garage, the situation seems a winner for all parties.

As I see it, there are two developers well positioned to take up the challenge.

W&M/ Jonathon Rose Companies: Metro Green. Directly in back of the current Stamford garage is the site of the planned Metro Green development comprised of 5 buildings: an office tower, three residential building and a parking garage. The first phase, an affordable residential building along Henry St is near opening. The developer recently announced their intention to push forward with the second residential building, now switched to more affordable housing rather than the original plan for market rate units. A few years ago there was talks with the developers to incorporate a larger garage into their plan to absorb parking for the station which seem to have fallen through. Metro Green's adjacency to the station makes them best suited to handle station parking in a location convenient to the park & rides. If Metro Green absorbed the station into their development they could add retail to their planned mix of housing and office space. A garage that served the entire development and the station could be wrapped in other uses and be barely moved from its existing footprint. It is also largely accessible via to the soon to open Urban Transitway. The downside is alternative parking would still have to be arranged during construction since a new garage as part of Metro Green would most likely overlap some on the footprint of the old garage.

Building & Land Technology: Gateway at Harbor Point. To the west of the station the Gateway office tower is planned on the site of a former factory and is one of five footprints in the South End for the massive Harbor Point redevelopment. Rebuilding the station garage as a mixed use development certainly fits in with Harbor Points "sustainable community" and it could be attractive to the developer to tie their project directly up and to the station. The station parking could be worked into the Gateway plot which in earlier drafts actually involved extending the train platform and building pedestrian walkways from the building to the tracks. Reworking those into features back into the plan is certainly doable and keep the walk from parking to the station short and off busy streets. Since the garage is also removed from the current location, it can be constructed while the old garage is still in service leaving no messy in-between time trying to coordinate interim parking. On the downside, the location is not connected to the current termination of the Urban Transitway, which millions was spent on with the express purpose of smoothing auto traffic to the station.

I think in a small way the situation is similar to the recent closing of traffic in Times Square. Both recognize that there are certain areas important to the overall identity of a city and a number of concerns must be weighed accordingly.