Another day, another new plan to save Hudson River Park's Pier 40. The pier?which has no money and needs about $100 million just to fix its pilings and roof, not to mention another $125 million to stay operational for the next decade?is in desperate need of a money-making makeover, and the Hudson River Park Trust has been gathering proposals. Today's plan, reported by the Journal, comes from seven youth sports leagues, who teamed up and asked WXY Architects to help them make a plan that would create more sports fields. The proposal calls for turning a pier parking lot, which is actually set back from the pier closer to the road, into a 600-unit residential development and tearing down some current pier structures to build 10.5 acres of open space with new sports fields and an elevated track.
Madelyn Wils, president and chief executive of the Trust told the Journal, "Certainly of all the plans that we've seen it has the most promise. But she also said that the Trust doesn't have a preference of residential over commercial.
The group behind the new plan, the Pier 40 Champions, wouldn't develop this proposal, but would like a developer to consider it. They don't really have any financial details, but they've asked the Trust to help them work that out. An earlier study showed that residential buildings would generate the most revenue, but former Trust chairman Douglas Durst would prefer to see office space for tech companies. Durst has also said that tearing down parts of the pier would be unnecessary and too costly.
All proposals will be discussed at a public forum next month.
· Sports Groups Aim at Pier 40 [WSJ]
· Pier 40 coverage [Curbed]
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