America’s Industrial Past Gets a Home Makeover
The most vibrant residential areas around the nation are deriving inspiration from the most authentic of sources: Their own history.
Rising skyward over Manhattan’s west side, 10 Hudson Yards represents 52 stories of glass, concrete, and change; its May 2016 unveiling marking the official debut of a 28-acre redevelopment project decades in the making. Upon completion in 2024, the neighborhood — built entirely on platforms elevated above a working rail yard — will feature roughly eight million square feet of office space (for companies that include Coach, HBO, and TimeWarner), 75,000 square feet of dining options (curated by Per Se chef Thomas Keller), 4,000 residences, and four acres of green space.
The massive project — the biggest private development endeavor the US has ever seen — is expected to cost upwards of $20 billion. It’s also expected to add $19 billion a year to the local economy, poignantly reinstating this site — historically known for accepting people and products into the city — as a thriving center of economy. “When complete, Hudson Yards will see more than 125,000 people working in, living, or visiting the neighborhood each day,” says Ken Himmel, CEO of Hudson Yards brainchild Related Companies, who worked especially hard to install marquee names that include José Andrés, Costas Spiliadis, and Danny Meyer on the food side, and Neiman Marcus (Manhattan’s first) on the retail.
Hudson Yards is but one example of an increasingly pervasive trend: One in which the most anticipated redevelopments across the country are working with, and not around, their existing spaces — many of them commercial or industrial areas that had been left for dead.
Washington DC’s Southwest Waterfront, home to the country’s longest continually operating open-air fish market (since 1918), is quickly becoming a new kind of nerve center. Here at the confluence of the Potomac and Anacostia rivers, apartments, eateries, and offices are arising across 24 acres of seaside property.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, the emerging neighborhood of Gowanus — once defined almost exclusively by its polluted canal — has become an adult playground of sorts, with developers using the land to attract outdoor enthusiasts with archery, climbing walls, shuffleboard, and tennis courts. Just a few miles north, construction began on Dock 72 in the Navy Yard, a onetime hub of shipbuilding innovation and present site of New Lab, an 84,000-square-foot space housing entrepreneurs working on robotics, artificial intelligence, and renewable energy.
East Boston developer Gerding Edlen approached The Eddy, a $135 million mixed-use development, with an eye towards honoring the community’s history. The name is an homage to Robert Henry Eddy, who created some of the earliest maps of East Boston; the buildings, fittingly, were designed to preserve waterfront access and coastal views. Running along four acres of property previously zoned for exclusive maritime use, it’s now open to the public. “By their nature, buildings create physical barriers,” says Gerding Edlen president Kelly Saito. “We did our best to not be an impediment to the neighborhood.”
That included strategic positioning on a corner lot and integrating new green space with an existing park. And, of course, helping boost the neighborhood’s food culture, and economy, with a new eatery run by one of Boston’s most celebrated chefs, Marc Orfaly, and a ferry between the Eddy pier and Charlestown across the bay. “One of the biggest draws of East Boston is that some of the restaurants are among the best in the city,” says Saito, “but hidden gems exist as well. We want to show people those, too.”
On the other side of the country, LA’s Downtown is rapidly transforming from a purely commercial enclave to a buzzy place to call home. With its office buildings, banks, department stores, and warehouses being reinvented as residences for the 58,000 Angelenos who live there, the neighborhood seamlessly blends historic architecture and modern skyscrapers.
And in San Francisco, the just-announced arts and innovation neighborhood Shipyard will resurrect what was once a shipbuilding lot. Helmed by starchitect David Adjaye, it will include more than 4 million square feet of studio and exhibition space for 300 of the area’s artists.
“There’s always been the client who wants the shiny new building, the Whole Foods,” says Saito. “But more and more, developers are also coming around to the thinking that there’s a segment of people who cherish the unique character of a neighborhood. They want to help preserve that. So do we.”
A Revolution in Getting Around
All over the country, city infrastructure is adapting as neighborhood boundaries continue to expand.
In New York, the $2.4 billion extension of the subway’s 7 line now connects the far west side to Times Square. Meanwhile, LA is bolstering its famously underused transit system to keep up with Downtown’s development.
In 2014, New York’s Water Taxi launched a route between Hudson Yards and the Financial District.
LA’s Metro Bike Share launched in July 2016 and is already planning expansion to Venice and Pasadena.
The forthcoming East River Skyway promises to transport 5,000+ people an hour between Manhattan and Brooklyn.
