Edison Properties LLC, a major owner and operator of parking lots and garages, is seeking a special permit from the City Planning Commission to redevelop a parking lot at 501 West 17th Street with about 869 condominium apartments in two towers of which the tallest would be about 390 feet high.

The site is currently occupied by a 377-space parking lot almost completely leased by the Drug Enforcement Administration for its vehicles and confiscated vehicles.

Edison Properties wants to build a two-level, below-ground garage with 718 "public" spaces beneath the planned new residential buildings on the site, which occupies the full block bounded by 17th and 18th Streets and 10th & 11th Avenues. The proposal would also include 180 "accessory" parking spaces above ground for the residents of the complex.

The High Line elevated railway that is planned to be converted into a public park runs through part of the eastern section of the site and Edison Properties LLC had formerly argued for its demolition before its designation as a park. An exhibition on the planned High Line Park is on view at the Museum of Modern Art through October 31, 2005.

Robert A. M. Stern, the architect of such high-rise luxury condominium apartment towers as the Chatham at 181 West 65th Street and the Seville at 300 East 77th Street and the co-author of a monumental and wonderful series of books on New York City architecture between 1880 and 1960, has been retained by Edison Properties LLC as the architect for the project.

Community Board 4 closed its public hearing on the application for the special permit last night. At the meeting, Douglas Sarini, vice president of Edison Properties LLC, indicated that the DEA's lease on the parking lot runs through 2007, indicating that construction of the project might not begin for a while.

Edward Kirkland, a member of Community Board 4, indicated that the project would contain condominium apartments. The Chelsea Preservation and Planning Committee of the board, voted 5 to 1 to recommend approval of the application July 13.