Pier 57 at New York City’s Hudson River Park will soon be the recipient of a nearly $210 million facelift.
The Hudson River Park Trust, a not-for-profit entity responsible for the design, construction, maintenance and operation of the 550-acre park recently designated Youngwoo & Associates, LLC of New York City as developer of the project.
YWA will transform Pier 57 into an hub of cultural, recreational and public market activities, all located within a restored historic structure that will also create several acres of public open space on the Pier 57 rooftop and along a perimeter waterfront promenade.
“The combination of imaginative architecture and creative uses enjoys strong community support, ensuring that Pier 57 will become a centerpiece of Hudson River Park and the western anchor of the thriving Meat Packing District,” said Diana Taylor, chair of the HRPT.
YWA’s plan for Pier 57 includes a 170,000-sq-ft covered, open-air public market that will be New York’s first large-scale concentration of year-round, affordable work/sell space for artisans and other small businesses and will be programmed and managed by Urban Space Management, a company that also operates holiday markets in Grand Central Station and Union Square and will be housed in recycles and creatively refitted shipping containers.
The plan also calls for a culture center of approximately 90,000 sq ft on the ground floor to be used as a mix of auction, exhibition, gallery and entertainment space centered around the contemporary arts and will feature seasonal docks in which kayaks and canoes will be provided as well as a two-acre rooftop park, restaurants and an underwater discovery center located in one of the pier’s historic caissons.
The Tribeca Film Festival will establish a permanent outdoor venue on the roof of the pier, offering a mixture of film, music and arts-based programming. Pier 57’s Sky Park will host parts of the annual film festival and be the year-round backdrop for a variety of exhibitions and performances conceived by TFF and YWA.
Redevelopment of Pier 57, a National Historic Registry structure containing approximately 375,000 sq ft of buildable waterfront space will likely require more than a year to complete environmental and land-use approvals and another 18 months to construct.
