Essex Crossing represents a true partnership between public and private interests. L+M, BFC Development Partners, Taconic Investment Partners, and The Prusik Group, along with Grand Street Settlement, were awarded the sites after a competitive RFP process in 2013. The entire project, located in the Lower East Side, is projected to be over 1.9 million square feet; seven of nine parcels are developed, and the last two parcels are expected to be completed by 2024. Once completed, the $1.5 billion project will include 1,079 units of residential rental and for-sale housing (of which over 50 percent will be permanently affordable to a wide range of incomes), over 700,000 square feet of commercial space, 350,000 square feet of office space, 100,000 square feet of community and cultural facility space, and 100,000 square feet of exterior and interior green space, including a new public park.

Key commercial users include NYU Langone Ambulatory Care Center, Trader Joe’s, Target, The Gutter NYC bowling, Regal Cinemas, a new and expanded Essex Street Market and The Market Line. Key community facility uses include a new senior center run by Grand St. Settlement, Henry Street Settlement’s Workforce Development Center, an early childhood education center operated by the Chinese American Planning Council, and the International Center of Photography.

Hudson River Park extends in and along four miles of Manhattan’s shoreline from about Chambers Street to West 59th Street and includes dozens of recreational and revenue-generating piers. Participants will walk along the water’s edge from Tribeca to the Meatpacking District, exploring many of the diverse, award-winning open spaces that have been created by the Hudson River Park Trust over the last 25 years, including the Pier 26 Tide Deck, the Tribeca Boardwalk, the Gansevoort Peninsula, and Little Island. The tour will end at historic Pier 57, a mixed-use, adaptive reuse project created in partnership with RXR and Google. 

Long Island City (LIC) is New York City’s fastest growing neighborhood. The city is engaged in multiple efforts to support the neighborhood’s long-term transformation into a mixed-use district. The Hunter’s Point South project is transforming the Long Island City waterfront with improved infrastructure, an 11-acre waterfront park, and 5,000 total residential units, including 3,000 affordable housing units. In 2018, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) completed the waterfront park, featuring a green stormwater infrastructure, bicycle and pedestrian pathways, adult fitness equipment, a playground, and an art installation. In fall 2023, the city kicked off the One LIC neighborhood planning study, focusing on LIC’s northern Waterfront and the industrial business zone (IBZ) located between the Waterfront and Court Square. This project seeks to leverage city-owned sites for affordable housing, promote equitable economic development, add waterfront open space, and improve circulation around the neighborhood.

This tour will begin at Hunter’s Point South Park, move north along the LIC waterfront to Anable Basin, and conclude at the IBZ. 

Running for 1.3 miles along the Brooklyn side of the East River, Brooklyn Bridge Park has been a significant agent for transformation for the historic DUMBO neighborhood, iconic for its 19^th-century industrial architecture. Join us for a walking tour of the DUMBO waterfront, where we will explore the park’s unique resilience and sustainability efforts to create the best waterfront possible, becoming a case study for the new Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines. We will also visit several exciting adaptive reuse projects, that have taken long-abandoned 19^th-century waterfront warehouses and transformed them into vibrant cultural and commercial spaces for the community.