RFP issued for hotel and residential complex adjacent to Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation (BBPC) is seeking developers interested in building a hotel and residential complex on two parcels adjacent to Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1, between the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and the Brooklyn Bridge. BBPC would dispose of the property through a long-term ground lease. The project site consists of two lots (Parcel A and Parcel B) fronting Furman Street and across from Squibb Park. Parcel A is roughly 65,000 sq.ft. with 550 feet of frontage along Furman Street. To the south of Parcel A, Parcel B is approximately 35,220 sq.ft., with 294 feet of frontage along Furman Street.

The parcels are divided by an 8,760 sq.ft. lot across from Squibb Park. The site was occupied by the nowdemolished National Cold Storage Warehouse buildings. 

The Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Modified General Project Plan will control the project’s development and use. The development must contain residential and hotel portions and a restaurant or cafe. The site is estimated to have 514,000 sq.ft. of development rights. The Project Plan established a 100-foot maximum building height for Parcel A and 55-foot maximum height for Parcel B. The Project Plan does not specify which parcel should contain the hotel or residential portions, but it does require that the hotel include 170 to 225 rooms and that the residential portion include 150 to 180 units. Overall, the combination of both cannot exceed either 225 hotels rooms and 150 residential units, or 170 hotels rooms and 180 residential units. The development must provide a 17,500 sq.ft. restaurant or cafe along the waterfront. The developer is expected to also provide at least 300 on-site parking spaces.

According to the request for proposals, developers are encouraged to include several amenities designed to complement surrounding public space. The amenities include: providing a landscaped buffer on the eastern edge of the parcels abutting the park; providing public restrooms on the project’s ground floor; and providing two ground floor spaces suitable for use by BBPC as a maintenance and storage facility. In addition, developers are encouraged to include plans for the construction of a public courtyard on the lot separating the parcels. The courtyard would need to accommodate a proposed 396-foot footbridge connecting Squibb Park to Brooklyn Bridge Park.

RFP responses must be submitted by October 24, 2011.

BBPC: Request for Proposals – Pier 1 Hotel & Residential Development (Aug. 4, 2011).