Boat Tour Focuses on Waterfront Development Opportunities

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The New York Building Congress recently hosted more than 100 design, construction and real estate industry representatives on a tugboat tour of the East River waterfront. The purpose of the event was to review development opportunities and priorities for the region's underused waterfront.

Featured public sector speakers included New York City Planning Commission Chair Amanda Burden; New York City Economic Development Corporation COO Joshua Sirefman, Queens West Development Corporation President Alexander P. Federbush, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. President Eric Deutsch, and Governors Island Preservation and Education Corp. President-Designate James Lima.

Featured speakers from the real estate and construction community included Building Congress Chairman Marilyn Jordan Taylor, who also is Chairman of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, Building Congress Economic Development Committee Co-Chairmen Daniel R. Tishman, Chairman and CEO of Tishman Realty and Construction, and Robert E. Selsam, Senior Vice President of Boston Properties.

The tour included views of sites along the waterfront at Long Island City, Queens West, Greenpoint/Williamsburg, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, DUMBO, Governors Island and Lower Manhattan.

“New York City’s waterfronts are indeed a new frontier, and the East River contains many of the best locations (for development) left in the City. We are all very lucky to have Amanda Burden as Chair of the City Planning Commission at this important moment,” noted Tishman.

Left to right: Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. President Eric Deutsch; New York City Planning Commission Chair Amanda Burden; and John McNamara Vice President of Modern Continental Construction, which loaned one of its tugboats to the New York Building Congress for its recent tour of East River development sites.

“The vast stretches of the New York City waterfront surrounding Manhattan and, particularly, the inner waterfront areas of Brooklyn and Queens that have remained fallow and undeveloped for years, represent a major opportunity for investment and development,” said Building Congress President Richard T. Anderson. “The boat ride served as a means of viewing these opportunities and discussing Mayor Bloomberg’s and the City Planning Commission’s firm vision for New York’s waterfront, along with their leadership and guidance in this critical effort.”

The City’s ambitious plan for the waterfront depends a great deal on the ability to rezone various sections to allow for the scale necessary to enact sweeping redevelopment. The plan also requires private real estate development, which will provide the financing necessary to create and maintain open space and public access to the waterfront.

In her remarks to the assembled guests, Planning Commission Chair Burden called the Bloomberg administration's efforts along the Greenpoint/Williamsburg waterfront, “one of the most ambitious rezoning plans in the City’s history. The challenge, she continued, is “to respect the low-scale of the neighborhood while giving local residents the access they desire to the waterfront.”

Burden said that increased waterfront access is possible only through private real estate development. As part of the City’s plan, private developers would be contractually obligated to construct and maintain waterfront parks adjacent to their parcels.

According to Burden and the other speakers, the City’s priorities in this area reflect its overall vision for waterfront development. These priorities include increased housing, establishment of natural connections between existing neighborhoods and the waterfront, maximized opportunities for public access and quality design standards.

The Greenpoint/Williamsburg plan is currently in the environmental review process. Burden expects to obtain certification of its Environmental Impact Statement on proposed zoning changes in early 2004, with a final decision being rendered by the New York City Council by the end of that year.