Pier A, which juts into the Hudson River near Battery Place at the south end of the Financial District, is a dilapidated structure surrounded by black-painted plywood and a chain-link fence with scaffolding concealing its green walls.
As the West Street corridor swiftly adds luxury condos, high-end apartments, new hotels, investment bank headquarters, bike and walking paths, and grassy lawns, community leaders and developers view the pier as a blemish on the neighborhood. It’s been unused and decaying for two decades, despite city pressure to get development moving.
The pier had its heyday in the 19th century, when city officials, looking to make a good first impression on arriving foreign dignitaries, welcomed them at Pier A.
But any transformation from ugly duckling to swan seems far away. At the end of April, another key deadline passed without the leaseholder, Wings Point Associates, announcing development plans for the property, which is owned by the city. And in June, a source told The Real Deal that Wings Point Associates no longer held the lease on Pier A. Confirmation from the city’s Economic Development Corporation was not available as of press time.
That lack of progress doesn’t sit well with those who have watched it molder.
“It’s an eyesore, and the community is justifiably distressed about its appearance,” said James Gill, the chairman of the Battery Park City Authority. Prime Battery Park City properties rub up against the pier.
A ferry dock with multiple service providers would be the best use of the pier, according to Gill, coupled with shops, restaurants and a museum, which could occupy berths behind and below the pier’s clock tower, which is landmarked. In fact, his authority, a public benefit corporation that operates on behalf of the state, is interested in taking over the pier, a position Gill has spelled out to the city on numerous occasions since becoming chairman in 1996.
“We are willing, ready and able to step in,” he said.
Pressed against the property from the other side is the Battery, a city-owned park. In June, the Battery Conservancy requested proposals from developers to build a bike path, lawns and a plaza across its 25 acres, now in the midst of a sweeping renovation.
For Warrie Price, president and founder of the Battery Conservancy, which is raising money for the renovation, fixing up Pier A makes sense from a real estate standpoint.
“Parks are the things that drive and complement development,” Price said. “So far, it’s such a lost opportunity.”
One developer hoping that the standoff over the pier’s future fixes itself soon is the Moinian Group, an early shaper of this corner of the Financial District. Moinian is now pouring the foundation for W New York Downtown Residences.
The combination hotel-condo, set for 123 Washington Street, at Rector Street, will have 217 hotel rooms in the lower half and 223 condos above them, according to Elad Dror, Moinian’s director of residential properties. Sales for the building, which will be finished in fall 2008, start in the next few months, he said.
Meanwhile, sales continue at Moinian’s Downtown Club, at 20 West Street, the 45-story former home of the Downtown Athletic Club.
Prices range from $525,000 to $1.6 million, according to Dror, who said 85 percent of its 283 units are already sold. Two older rentals are nearby: Moinian’s 90 Washington, which was converted from condos to luxury rentals in 2003, and the Ocean, at 1 West Street, which opened in 2000.
Since many of Moinian buildings’ front doors are a short hop from Pier A, “residents would love a nice restaurant there, with nice outdoor seating,” Dror said of a neighborhood that until recently was lacking amenities others take for granted, like grocery stores and cafes.
Another major residential project far downtown is Riverhouse, at One Rockefeller Park, developed by the Sheldrake Organization and located in Battery Park City proper. It offers 267 condos priced between $835,000 and $7.5 million, and 40 percent of the units, which start at 780 square feet, have sold since September, said James Lansill, senior managing director of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group. The building, which has 34 stories, will open in September, he added.
Albanese Development is another builder with a growing presence in this area, which once consisted of back offices for banks and shipping line headquarters.
Visionaire, an Albanese luxury condo designed by Cesar Pelli with 253 studios through four-bedrooms, priced from $640,000 to $4 million, is rising from the corner of Battery and 2nd Place, inside Battery Park City.
The 35-story building is seeking the highest LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, certification, a voluntary green rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. It has sold 20 percent of its units since March, said Christopher Albanese, a principal.
When completed in 2008, the Visionaire will join the Verdesian, another Albanese creation located at 211 North End Avenue, where its 250 rental units are now 99 percent occupied, Albanese said.
Although the Verdesian, which is farther north but still within Battery Park City limits, offers a network of parks to its residents, any way to extend the promenades that wrap around the shoreline would be welcome, he added.
Indeed, in its current condition, Pier A is something of an impediment for bikers, joggers and walkers hoping to make their way along the shoreline from Battery Park City to points south.
Last summer, the Hudson River Park Trust, which builds playing fields, bike paths, batting cages and skate parks along city- and state-owned waterfront land, cut the ribbon on Promenade South. The 500-yard stretch of tidily landscaped paths abuts Pier A, where joggers now need to make sharp, near-blind turns around concrete barriers to continue through the Battery.
“Anything down there that would complement our park would be welcome,” said Chris Martin, a trust spokesman.
For its part, New York Waterway, the ferry operator owned in part by William Wachtel, a Wings Point principal, did not return calls seeking comment. And as for the city’s Economic Development Corporation, “we’re working hard to ensure the successful development of Pier A, and we hope to have a resolution shortly,” said Yonit Golub, a spokeswoman.