GreenbergFarrow designs 650,000 s/f high-efficiency East River Plaza in Manhattan

GreenbergFarrow, a nationally recognized architectural, planning, development and consulting firm, served as design architect and the architect of record for East River Plaza, the 650,000 s/f retail center on the FDR Dr. in East Harlem. Manhattan's first retail power center, East River Plaza was a joint venture between Blumenfeld Development Group and Forest City Ratner. It offers shoppers many of America's most prominent retailers, including Costco, Target, Best Buy, Marshalls, Old Navy, PetSmart, Bob's Discount Furniture, and many others. Situated on portions of three city blocks on a former industrial site, the 6.3 acre project represents an unusually efficient use of urban land. A typical retail complex of its acreage would only deliver some 60,000 s/f of retail space. Designed as a vertical urban mall, East River Plaza thus delivers 10.8 times more leasable area than average retail venues. "East River Plaza achieved tremendous efficiencies as it transformed an underutilized industrial site into a unique retail center," said John Clifford, principal for planning at GreenbergFarrow. "This revolutionary development has transcended standard models of retail development by taming common 'big boxes' for convenient patronage by urban consumers." Once the site of the Washburn Wire factory, East River Plaza consists of four floors and a cellar of retail. The complex is connected by galleries and pedestrian bridges extending across an open-air atrium to a six-level, 1,248-car parking garage. East River Plaza's large floor area allows big-box retailers to offer "single floor," suburban-style shopping venues in a Manhattan setting. Two upper levels house several smaller users. GreenbergFarrow has one of New York City's largest retail design portfolios, having designed the 1 million s/f Gateway Center at Bronx Terminal Market, the 600,000 s/f Rego Park II in Queens, the 400,000 s/f Manhattan Mall redevelopment, the 346,000 s/f IKEA in Red Hook, Brooklyn, the 276,000 s/f redevelopment of Fordham Place in the Bronx, the 235,000 s/f River Plaza in the Bronx, and dozens of other area projects.