Reimagining Brooklyn’s Waterfront
Brooklyn Bridge Park Local Development Corporation
HR&A Advisors guided the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation through a comprehensive predevelopment planning process that transformed 85 acres of vacant, post-industrial piers into one of New York City’s premier waterfront destinations. By creating an innovative self-sustaining funding model and facilitating complex stakeholder engagement, HR&A broke a 20-year implementation stalemate, enabling the award-winning Michael Van Valkenburgh-designed park to move from vision to reality.
As the strategic advisor and interim staff for the citizen-led planning organization, HR&A orchestrated a multifaceted approach that ensured exceptional public space creation and financial sustainability. The team developed a groundbreaking funding strategy that leverages limited the footprint of on-site development—including residential, retail, hotel, and parking components—to generate revenue that supports the park’s ongoing operations and maintenance in perpetuity. This innovative model eliminated reliance on uncertain public funding sources while maximizing public space and amenities. Concurrently, HR&A negotiated a crucial memorandum of understanding between city and state officials to secure initial capital funding, creating the financial foundation that allowed construction to commence in 2009.
HR&A’s leadership in consultant procurement and management further ensured cohesive implementation of this complex project, resulting in the successful reconnection of Brooklyn’s neighborhoods with their waterfront through an extraordinary public space that remains financially sustainable for generations to come.
