WEST LOOP — The Randolph/Fulton Market Association is calling for more parking at a Fulton Market development that would include a Brooklyn Bowl bowling alley and concert venue.
Roger Romanelli, executive director of the group, said he is concerned the planned 80 parking spots on site would not add enough parking to the crowded neighborhood. Instead, Romanelli wants developers to install 170 parking spots at the new Brooklyn Bowl development at 832-836 W. Fulton Market.
"All we're asking you to consider is 10 percent of occupancy for parking," Romanelli said at a neighborhood meeting Tuesday night, saying that building occupancy would be about 1,700.
The Randolph/Fulton Market Association supports Brooklyn Bowl and first-floor retail in the neighborhood, but the development's parking plan must consider the needs of the existing manufacturing businesses in the area, he said.
Although plans call for 80 spots on site, alternative schemes could yield more parking, said Evan Meister, real estate analyst with Convexity Properties, the building's developer. If Brooklyn Bowl Chicago plans to offer valet parking, the 80 garage spots could be stretched to as many as 130 parking spots on site, he said.
Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th Ward, said that the city's Planning and Zoning department did not want more than 80 parking spots installed on site.
"They want people to take the train instead," Burnett said.
Developers met with the community Tuesday night ahead of a zoning change they plan to pursue to renovate the existing three-story building on the site.
Of the few dozen people at the meeting, most voted to support the Brooklyn Bowl development. Four of the five area neighborhood groups, including the West Loop Community Organization and Neighbors of the West Loop, have backed the project, Meister said.
According to a zoning application, the 60,000-square-foot complex would include 24 bowling lanes, a stage, a restaurant and bar. The entertainment space is nearly double the size of nearby concert venue and restaurant City Winery.
The building's first floor would house another 18,000 square feet of retail space. The second and third floors would house commercial space and a two-story Brooklyn Bowl location.
If all goes well, the developer plans to break ground on renovations this winter and Brooklyn Bowl could open by summer 2016, according to Meister.
Brooklyn Bowl's first location in Brooklyn, N.Y., opened in 2009. Since then, additional locations in London and Las Vegas have also been developed.
