By Deborah Goonan, Independent American Communities
UPDATE:
Operator pulls out of Brickell condo’s disastrous robotic parking garage
Article Courtesy of The Miami Herald
It doesn’t seem to matter how much urban chic your money can buy. Luxury condos with hi-tech features can also have their share of bad design.
Owners in a Miami financial district condo tower are dealing with a parking garage that has not quite lived up to expectations.
They shelled out out an average of $456,000 for a condo at Brickell, only to discover that each day their vehicles are held hostage by robots.
You see, instead of parking valets or (horrors!) actually parking your own vehicle, a comupter-driven robotic system transports each vehicle from its drop off point on the ground level, and then retrieves it when the owner calls for it. The process is supposed to be seamless and efficient.
You can check out the promotional video here.
Harvey Hernandez, Brickell’s developer, and Boomerang, the company that operates the garage, promised condo owners that retrieval of their vehicles would take less than 10 minutes.
But…in reality, according to owners interviewed by the Miami Herald, it takes closer to 30 minutes for the robotic system to do its job during the morning rush hour. Oops!
Condo owners have complained bitterly, and the garage operator has made unsuccessful attempts to fix the problem. Then came the request for an additional $100,000 from the condo association. That didn’t go over well at all.
Early in November, Boomerang threw in the towel and declared bankruptcy. It turns out that Brickell’s developer was one of Boomerang’s lenders, and decided to withdraw financing.
So now condo owners have a parking garage that they cannot use, with an inoperable system of hi-tech robots.
No word on when the garage will reopen.
Source Articles, Courtesy of Miami Herald
Robotic parking garage ruins commute, Brickell condo residents say
Residents furious as robotic parking garage at Brickell condo shuts down
