N.Y.C. Kicks off New Redevelopment on Staten Island

The city is turning over a vacant 42-acre site for a new $100 million retail development. Meanwhile, 17 sites at regional ports are set for new projects.

New Staten Island Retail Center

A 42-acre retail center broke ground in Charleston as part of an ongoing Staten Island redevelopment plan led by the New York City Economic Development Corp.

Blumenfeld Development Group of Syosset, N.Y., and national retailers such as Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Target, plan to invest $100 million in Bricktown Centre, which will contain an estimated 400,000 sq. ft. of retail space and 1,700 parking spaces.

The developers will spend $15 million for land acquisition and $16 million for infrastructure improvements on- and off-site, including access roads, utilities, storm water control devices, landscaping, traffic signals, and a public greenway. The Bricktown project is expected to generate 630 construction jobs and 550 permanent positions.

The shopping center is one of several planned projects on a 135-acre site on the Southwest Shore, the borough's largest vacant city-owned parcel, which has seen development plans come and go over the past 30 years. In addition to the retail center, the city has plans for a 42-acre nature preserve, ballfields, a school, senior housing, and a five-acre community garden.

Other initiatives spearheaded by the city's development corporation on Staten Island include a $66 million infrastructure upgrade project on 36 acres of the Stapleton waterfront, now in design stages, and construction already underway on a $72 million project to reactivate an 8-mi. Staten Island freight railroad in conjunction with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Work Slated for 17 Ports

A major drive to add cargo space at New Jersey ports kicked into gear with the announcement of 17 sites slated for potential development by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The two agencies designed the Portfields Initiative to address cargo space and distribution constraints at the ports, which saw a 10 percent rise in container volume in the last year.

The agencies have committed $1.8 million for preliminary studies to identify six or more brownfield or underutilized sites with at least 350,000 sq. ft. of potential building space. Most of the sites are located in or near areas covered by Portway, an 11-project New Jersey Department of Transportation infrastructure improvement program. Portway aims to strengthen access between the Newark-Elizabeth Air/Seaport Complex and various rail, trucking, and transfer facilities in the region. Meanwhile, the Port Authority is in the middle of a $600 million program to build and expand railway infrastructure at port terminals.

New Jersey Acting Gov. Richard Codey said that he expected groundbreakings on several port sites by the end of the year. One project by San Francisco-based Catellus Development is already underway on a site near Interchange 13A of the New Jersey Turnpike.

Catellus, which acquired the 177-acre parcel in Elizabeth this spring and is now in demolition and remediation stages, plans to start construction late next year on its first building, a 600,000-sq.-ft. warehouse.

Rockland County Revitalization

Spring Valley, N.Y., in Rockland County is set to begin a downtown revitalization following a recent agreement between a developer and the village's Urban Renewal Board. CPC Resources, a nonprofit mortgage lender based in Hawthorne, N.Y., will build on two of seven sites that the village has designated for redevelopment.

The $36 million development will entail razing existing one- and two-story structures to make way for two six-story rental apartment buildings, each with 75 one- and two-bedroom units, and 29,000 sq. ft. of retail space.

Other proposals currently under the board's review for the downtown redevelopment area include a gated community of townhouse-style homes on Lawrence Street, condominium buildings up to six stories high, and several commercial buildings.

WTC Redevelopment Changes

The World Trade Center rebuilding effort absorbed major changes in recent months as a top redevelopment official resigned and the New York City Police Department called for security measures that have forced a redesign of the 1,776-ft. Freedom Tower.

Kevin Rampe resigned in May from his post as president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., which is coordinating the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site and other parts of downtown. Rampe, who had been with the agency since its inception following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, cited family reasons for moving to a job with ACE Ltd., a Bermuda-based insurance firm. He will remain director of the fundraising campaign for the trade center's memorial. Meanwhile, New York Gov. George Pataki tapped another LMDC official, Stefan Pryor, to succeed Rampe.

In early May, development officials also announced plans to redesign Freedom Tower - originally scheduled for completion in 2009 - to address NYPD security concerns presented in April to the developer, Silverstein Properties.

According to media reports, security risks the police cited in the David Childs-designed tower included the tower's proximity to West Street and its mostly glass exterior on lower floors. According to Pataki, construction of other elements on the 16-acre site, including the memorial, a regional transit hub, and a cultural center, will continue consistent with architect Daniel Libeskind's master plan.