NEW YORK | Red Hook Waterfront Redevelopment | 45,000 units

[chris08876]

Construction and engineering firm proposes creating a new Brooklyn neighborhood the size of Battery Park City

Large Rendering: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pb...-160919982.jpg

One of the city's largest construction and engineering firms is floating a plan to transform a huge swath of the Red Hook waterfront into a residential neighborhood with a new subway connection, acres of parkland and waterfront-flood protections that would revitalize and protect the low-lying neighborhood from storms and future sea-level rise.

AECOM envisions building as many as 45,000 units of housing, much of it in new residential towers that would rise on underutilized Brooklyn sites owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the city. The company plans to unveil the proposal Tuesday at the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation. Under the preliminary plan, proceeds from the sale or long-term lease of the land to developers, as well as other funds generated from revenue streams such as real estate taxes, would go toward upgrading the neighborhood's infrastructure, which includes extending the No. 1 train from lower Manhattan via a new tunnel under the harbor to the Brooklyn area. AECOM's plan also involves creating three new subway stations, one at Atlantic Basin next to the container terminal, another at the Red Hook Houses, one of Brooklyn's largest public-housing complexes, and a No. 1 train station that would connect to the F and G subway lines at Fourth Avenue.

"We have to recognize that growth is necessary to create a waterfront that people can use, affordable housing and a mass-transit connection to a neighborhood where one doesn't exist," said Chris Ward, a senior vice president at AECOM and a former top executive at the Port Authority, who helped craft the plan.

If the project comes to fruition, a new residential neighborhood almost double the size of Battery Park City and several times as large as Hudson Yards on Manhattan's far West Side—the biggest development project currently underway in the city—would be created.

The plan calls for constructing more than a dozen towers that would contain as many as 45,000 apartments, a quarter of which would be set aside for affordable housing. The new towers would sit on multiple sites: two adjacent waterfront compounds, the 80-acre Red Hook Container Terminal owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a similar-sized adjacent parcel of city-owned waterfront along Columbia Street, the southern edge of the neighborhood overlooking the Gowanus Bay and unused land located at Red Hook Houses. Development at the public-housing complex could fund improvements to Red Hook Houses, AECOM said, but it is also likely to be controversial. Recent proposals to create additional residential space in public-housing has prompted outcry from residents and local officials.

"As the city expects another million residents in the next decade where will they all live?" Ward said. "This is a canvas where we can create tens of thousands of housing units without pushing people further to the periphery of the city."

AECOM acknowledges that its plan lacks key details, including how much the development and infrastructure would cost, how much revenue it would generate and how to coordinate a neighborhood-wide redevelopment on land parcels that are controlled by several different stakeholders with potentially varying objectives. But the company outlined three different scenarios for the Red Hook project. Two of the cases would provide funding for a subway extension to varying degrees, however, AECOM acknowledged that other funding sources would be necessary.

The firm predicted that the creation of 25 million square feet of new residential space would be enough to fund 2.5 miles of waterfront protection measures, 6,250 affordable housing units, and generate $50 million of annual tax revenue for the city, but not enough to pay for a subway-line extension. A 35 million-square-foot residential development would finance 4.5 miles of coastal protection (enough to protect the entire Red Hook waterfront), 3 miles of streetscape improvements, 50 acres of new park space and create 8,750 affordable housing units. A project of that size would generate $90 million of revenue for the city and would partially pay for a subway extension. While a 45 million-square-foot project would create 11,250 units of affordable housing and the same level of coastal protection and fund 5.7 miles of streetscape improvements, 100 acres of new park space and would fund the bulk of a subway extension. This scenario would generate $130 million in annual revenue for the city.

"This is meant to be a starting point for a conversation," Ward said, who estimated the cost of a No.1 train station extension at about $3 billion.

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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...a-new-brooklyn

[NYguy]

The biggest thing I take from this is a proposal of the 1 train extension to Brooklyn (maybe a stop at Governors Island?). That would be a miracle.
But with the growing city, the housing is HUGE. Or it would be if this thing got off.

[Eidolon]

Never stop, New York!

[tdawg]

Hmmm... as someone who used to live on the border of Red Hook and Carroll Gardens, I have mixed feelings about this. Red Hook is one of the most unique neighborhoods in New York, and it would surely lose a lot of character if this proposal were built to this scale.

[NYguy]

^ This is definitely a development that will change things. The big ones usually are.



http://gothamist.com/2016/09/13/red_...yn.php#photo-1

Construction Giant Wants To Turn Red Hook Into A Fantasyland With Subway Service











BY RAPHAEL POPE-SUSSMAN
SEP 13, 2016

The Southwest Brooklyn project would create a new arm of the IRT branching off the southern end of the 1 train. The line, which in name would resurrect the dead 9 train (may its memory be a blessing), would run under the harbor to Red Hook and connect with the F/G and R at 4th and 9th. The train would solve a problem that's bedeviled Red Hook since it was guillotined by the BQE—lousy transportation options and both physical and economic isolation from the rest of Brooklyn.

The new square footage—there are also less ambitious proposals for adding 25 and 35 million square feet—would come from high and mid-rise development on land that's currently empty or low density. The city and Port Authority own large swaths of land in the area, including the little-used 80-acre Red Hook Container Terminal, which the PA has considered shutting down, so in theory that could be a starting point for the project. Under the AECOM proposal, the new neighborhood would get 50,000 new units of housing, including 11,000 affordable units (there are currently 3,000 units), and 1.8 extra miles of public waterfront access. AECOM estimates that the project would create around 55,000 jobs....

https://www.scribd.com/document/3238...iliate&irgwc=1

[NYguy]

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.2790844

Former Port Authority head calls for underground subway linking isolated Brooklyn nabes to Manhattan

BY DAN RIVOLI
September 13, 2016

When it comes to moving people and growing the economy in Red Hook and Sunset Park, Brooklyn, streetcars and ferries aren’t enough, former Port Authority chief Chris Ward said on Tuesday.

In a presentation focusing on those isolated neighborhoods, where vacant land has been redeveloped with shiny new housing and waterfront parks, Ward proposed a new underwater subway tunnel connecting them across the harbor to lower Manhattan.

To give the neighborhoods a transit lifeline, Mayor de Blasio proposed the Brooklyn-Queens Connector, a 16-mile trolley that’ll run from Sunset Park to Astoria, Queens. The mayor’s five-borough ferry plan also covers Red Hook.

But Ward, an executive at a construction and engineering firm called AECOM, went further, calling for an extra three new stops in Brooklyn to bring Manhattan’s No. 1 line into Red Hook. He’d rename it the No. 9 train.

The $3.5-billion line would connect to the F, G and R lines at the 4th Ave-9th St. station in Gowanus, with links to the streetcar. Tax revenue from development would partially cover the cost.

“That’s moving the people that you really need to get in and around the city,” Ward said after his talk at NYU Rudin Center for Transportation.

As for the Brooklyn-Queens Connector, known as the BQX, Ward said it’d be “very difficult for that to be a job commuting strategy.”

And ferries just can’t handle the same loads as subways.

“The number of people you move and how much that can undergird an economy, it’s not enough,” Ward said.

He did, however, give de Blasio “kudos” for the BQX project.

But Ward says his proposed transit changes would spur development — as much as 45 million square feet for 45,000 units.

An MTA spokeswoman, meanwhile, said it’s in the “very preliminary stages of an idea,” but the agency looks forward to seeing more details. A rep for de Blasio did not return a request for comment.

Jill Eisenhard, director of the Red Hook Initiative, who also spoke at the NYU event, said there has been “conversation after conversation” about how far public transit is from the neighborhood.

She recalled the response from Red Hook residents who heard a pitch on the BQX.

“They were saying, yes, someone finally heard that we need transportation in Red Hook,” she said.

[chris08876]

Something like this needs to happen. We're always talking about the housing crisis, well, here is a nice bandaid on it. On Top of everything else going on, and planned, this is a nice addition.

In terms of the neighborhood changing, yes, a big change, but like growing cities, not everything can remain the way it was. Time to move on, and focus on the generations to come.



This rendering is sweet.

[chris08876]

Could AECOM actually pull off its plan to transform Red Hook?

The company on Tuesday unveiled a proposal to build up to 45 million square feet of residential space in Red Hook, a plan that would add as many as 45,000 new apartments, 25 percent of them affordable. As part of the proposal, the company also suggested extending the No. 1 train into Brooklyn and adding three subway stops, an undertaking that it estimates will cost $3.5 billion.

Chris Ward, chief executive of AECOM’s Metro New York, is the first to admit the vision is extremely preliminary. During a panel Tuesday organized by the New York University’s Rudin Center for Transportation, Ward repeatedly stressed that the company’s study of the area was in no way a plan, but rather a “framework” designed to inspire conversation. The next step is for AECOM to take the proposal to residents.

“It really is for the community to embrace,” Ward said. “If not, it’ll just be a series of ideas that won’t get realized.”

Other factors also potentially stand in the way. For one, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey would need to allow its 80-acre Red Hook Container Terminal to be used for the development. The agency has floated shutting down the terminal as part of its efforts to shed its non-core real estate assets, but has not yet embraced AECOM’s vision. A spokesperson for the agency said they were currently reviewing the proposal.

AECOM would likely also need the blessings of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and City Hall. Ward said both are currently focused on their own projects.

“Sounds like this is in the very preliminary stages of an idea,” Kevin Ortiz, a spokesperson for the MTA, said in an email on AECOM’s proposal. “We look forward to hearing more about it, especially details regarding funding.”
Representatives for City Hall did not immediately respond to messages seeking additional information.

Then there’s the cost of the entire project, which remains unclear. The proposal includes three scenarios for residential development, 25 million square feet, 35 million square feet and 45 million square feet. The biggest option would pay for 45 percent of the proposed subway changes — the extension from Rector Street in Manhattan to Red Hook and three additional stops — work that AECOM reckons will cost $3.5 billion. One official told The Real Deal that $3.5 billion for a tube under the river and three stations is a “remarkably low estimate.”

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http://therealdeal.com/2016/09/13/co...form-red-hook/

[NYguy]

the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey would need to allow its 80-acre Red Hook Container Terminal to be used for the development. The agency has floated shutting down the terminal as part of its efforts to shed its non-core real estate assets, but has not yet embraced AECOM’s vision. A spokesperson for the agency said they were currently reviewing the proposal.

AECOM would likely also need the blessings of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and City Hall.

That's an understatement. Any project of this magnitude, and I can't think of any off the top of my head (even Sunnyside isn't as ambitious) would need the "blessings" of the various agencies involved. Most importantly, the city would have to give its blessing, in the form of various rezonings. It wouldn't be an overnight, rubberstamped process. But no doubt the deBlasio administration is salivating at the prospect of all those housing units. Get city hall behind it, and hope the credit-mongering Cuomo doesn't come in and try to throw cold water on the idea.

[Zerton]

Originally Posted by tdawg

Hmmm... as someone who used to live on the border of Red Hook and Carroll Gardens, I have mixed feelings about this. Red Hook is one of the most unique neighborhoods in New York, and it would surely lose a lot of character if this proposal were built to this scale.

Actual Red Hook (not near it) is not really worth crying about losing parts of. It's really run down.

[C.]

This is a really neat project! The article says this is developer driven but I wonder if there has already been discussions with the city. It could go a long way in supporting the Mayor's affordable housing goal if not all of the units are market rate.

Is there anything planned by the city for Red Hook that would make it more desirable for redevelopment, so I wonder if this is part of the plan.

[BVictor1]

Just confirming, is this about 160 acres of development?

[Zapatan]

This is awesome!

[chris08876]

Extra Diagrams:

[NYRebel]

If this happens it would really be awesome! But to be completely honest what's the likelihood that it'll get approved + anything would happen? Lol

I'd probably be around 60 years old when real planning starts. I'm in my mid-20's now.

[antinimby]

If you're going to build a new subway tunnel going just off Governor's island, why don't you just build it through it and have a stop there?

This way you can add in Governor's island into the development as well.

[steyin]

Never going to happen in our lifetimes. Nice ideas here though, but too much political BS for this to actually happen I feel.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by steyin

Never going to happen in our lifetimes. Nice ideas here though, but too much political BS for this to actually happen I feel.

I think NYC is the one place in the U.S. that can make it happen. To be fair, this isn't even ambitious enough compared to whats going on in China. In fact, if you look at Shenzhen for example, there are several developments of this magnitude. And thats just one city in China. Only difference is there, they add 100,000+ units and a whole new CBD with parks and eco friendly utilities.

I think it can happen here, but not as quick. At least a debate is being started, and one way or another, NYC will stay competitive and get many more units.

Something like this will clearly be in phases of course. I mean, last couple of years, the whole city has added 50-55k units per year. I believe it slowed down a bit, but hopefully we can crank out close to 50k this year.

I still think with Sunnyside Yards, the massive (3000-5000 unit on average) projects planned along N. Queens and S.Bronx waterfront, and the resurgence of East New York, many more units will hit the market in the years to come. Notice that there's an "S" in front of project. In fact, we have threads for those parcels.

The limiting reagent in all of this is transit, but thats what a project like this aims to fix. Unfortunately, the dickheads in Albany have too much power over the city, and lag the whole process.

[scalziand]

In the mean time, Red Hook will host the final Formula E race next year.



• Video Link

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/...city-next-july

[urbanlife]

That is just crazy, I can't even imagine Red Hook being that kind of polished urban tower kind of neighborhood. But we have seen anything that touches the water be transformed, so it makes sense for this to happen in Red Hook as well.

It is a shame to see Red Hook change that much, though I do like the idea of extending the 1 train, that will benefit a lot of people and will probably be the key feature to this development.