Name: Paragon Place at Bear Claw Way Bike Room
Location: Middleton, WI
Facility Type: 3-story, 39 unit luxury apartment building with underground parking
When a new multi-family housing building is constructed in the city of Middleton, WI, it is required to follow the city of Madison’s guidelines for providing bike parking.
The city requires 1 bike parking space per unit and 10% of the number of units for guest bike parking with the mandate that resident bike parking be inside. Additionally, the vast majority of the parking has to be ground mounted.
Each bike space then must have a 2-foot width, 6-foot parking area and 5-foot access aisle.
This was the case for Paragon Place at Bear Claw Way. Which incorporates a 975 square foot bike room with 43 bike parking spaces. This bike storage space is located in the underground garage of the 3-story, 39 unit luxury apartment building.
“The city of Madison has very specific guidelines,” says Ryan McMurtrie, Vice President – Development for United Financial Group, Inc.
In need of bike racks to meet the requirements for this project, McMurtrie once again looked to Madrax. Having tried several different racks from Madrax in previous underground parking bike rooms, McMurtrie knew the Shark Rack would be a great fit for the bike room in Paragon Place at Bear Claw Way.
“We felt the Shark Rack was the best application because it meets the city of Madison's requirements with the proper spacing and use of the D lock,” says McMurtrie. “We've found that it's a good utilization of space, easy to use, gets the goal accomplished and it is fairly priced.”
In addition to meeting the City of Madison’s guidelines, the Shark Rack is preferred because of how intuitive it is to use.
“You have a definitive spot where you put your tire and once you get your tire in that spot, it's really easy to assume where to put your D lock to secure the bike,” says McMurtrie.
As United Financial Group, Inc. owns, functions as the general contractor and self-manages its properties, the Shark Rack was additionally beneficial because it can be used with future developments.
McMurtrie notes that every time he picks a spec, he’s trying to find something that is not a fit only for the high-end market rate residence. But is looking for something that can be applied to future 55+ age restricted properties which also make up the United Financial Group, Inc.’s portfolio.
In addition to the bike racks, a repair stand and tire pump were included in the bike room. Added as an amenity for the residents, these tools serve another purpose for the facility. "The hope is to try to keep the dirty maintenance tasks in the underground, instead of residents taking their bikes into their units," McMurtrie explains.
A Total Bike Room Solution
McMurtrie understands bike racks can become a bit of a commodity. With a Google search you can get a lot of similar racks from many different companies. It’s the factors beyond meeting guidelines that helped influence his decisions.
“When I call and talk to people [at Madrax], they know their products, they actually answer their phone. If someone is good at what they do, likes what they do and answers their phone, that checks a lot of the important boxes for me,” says McMurtrie. “From my perspective, getting a fair price from a family owned company with an easy to use website that can get me anything I need - I attribute value to that.”
Being a relationship-oriented company able to provide guidance on a project is also something McMurtrie appreciates. "I've previously sent them my floor plans or blueprints and said 'How can I do this the most efficiently based on the racks I want to use?' They were very helpful with that."