The latest trend in cycling in New York City isn’t just the dockless bikeshare that seems to be on the horizon or Citi Bike’s ever-growing ridership. It actually hits a lot closer to home thanks to the amenities many building developers are now offering to residents.
We’re not just talking bike storage, which many buildings have long provided. We’re talking resident-only bike tours, bike shop discounts and even complimentary bike rentals.
“We saw the demand was increasing, so we started to up the amount of storage that we built out when building our new buildings, and then we realized that there’s a need for so much more than that,” said Jessica Koenig, marketing director for developer Gotham Organization.
Gotham Organization currently has four residential properties: Gotham West, The Nicole and Atlas New York in Manhattan and The Ashland in Downtown Brooklyn. All four provide free bike storage, but residents at Gotham West and The Ashland have extra perks.
For example, at Gotham West, residents have access to a bike valet from NYC Velo, the bike shop adjacent to popular food hall Gotham West Market on the first floor.
“Residents don’t have to fetch their own bikes anymore, they can just call down to the concierge and say, ‘Can I have my bike ready at 10 a.m.?’ take it for the day and drop it off when they get back, and NYC Velo will put it away for them,” Koenig explained, adding that residents of any Gotham buildings are eligible for discounts at NYC Velo as well for rentals, tune-ups or apparel.
On certain summer weekends, The Ashland offers professionally led bike tours through Brooklyn, and the demand, Koenig said, “was incredible. Residents want more of that with their fellow neighbors and the community.”
When building out The Ashland’s bike storage, Gotham also purchased a fleet of luxury bikes from Shinola, which residents can borrow for free.
“This was the first time that we did that, and it’s also highly utilized, and every nice weekend in the summer, all 12 of these bikes are taken out,” Koenig said. “I think over time, we’ll increase things like that, whether it’s purchasing our own bikes or offering some type of bikeshare as well.”
Circa Central Park, developed by Artimus Construction on 110th Street, offers a fleet of Circa-branded bikes, something resident Janet Cohlmia expects take advantage of soon with guests.
“It’s a very nice amenity,” said Cohlmia, who currently uses the building’s storage facility, which she said offers easy access and “they don’t mind if we take them right out the front door.”
Koenig expects building bike amenities to evolve as cycling continues to rise in the city.
“Residents are extremely savvy these days when they’re hunting for an apartment, and offering these things, hopefully we can meet their needs,” she said.
