By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
FINANCIAL DISTRICT — Southbridge Towers residents could soon have to pay almost 50 percent more to park their cars in the complex’s garage.
Southbridge’s board of directors voted last week to increase the monthly rate by $30 to $98 for a resident’s first car. Residents with a second car will pay $196, an increase of $60 over the current rate.
Although the fees are still well below market rate for lower Manhattan, the increase annoyed some residents of Southbridge, a 1,651-unit affordable housing complex. Several residents said the board should have driven a harder bargain with Icon Parking Systems, the new garage manager.
“Given the economic climate, we believe it’s going to present a burden,” said Victor Papa, 65, a former president of Southbridge’s board. “There’s no justifiable reason for this.”
Ann Spota, 80, a Southbridge resident who does not own a car, said she worried her neighbors would not be able to pay the increase, especially if another one followed close behind.
“It’s disgusting,” she said. “It’s terrible.”
Icon Parking Systems took over the management of the garage in February and found that it needed millions of dollars of repairs, most of which Icon will pay for itself.
Icon also found that too many residents were parking in the garage, and it was exceeding its capacity.
Icon wanted to hold a lottery for the spaces, but Southbridge’s board convinced the company to go with a rate increase instead, and to allow the garage population to naturally decline over time, said Wally Dimson, president of Southbridge’s board.
“We did fight very hard,” Dimson said, adding that the rate increase was a solid compromise.
Dimson said he even considered taking legal action against Icon to prevent the increase, but he worried that an unfavorable decision could cause the rates to rise even more, or could leave some residents without parking spaces.
Icon makes much of its money not from residential parking, but from short-term parking that starts at $8.45 for the first half hour.
Icon did not respond to a request for comment.
Residents have until Aug. 15 to submit comments on the proposed change to the Division of Housing and Community Renewal, the state agency that will make the final decision.
