Modified plan would split redeveloped Pier 17 into two components, with signage added to roof and for the complex’s commercial tenants. On October 23, 2012, Landmarks agreed to amend a previously issued binding report for a plan to redevelop Pier 17 in the South Street Seaport Historic District. Landmarks in May 2012 initially approved the Howard Hughes Corporation and the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s plan to demolish the existing Pier 17 structure and build a new, SHoP Architects-designed glass-clad complex with retail uses and public space. (See CityLand’s coverage of the approval here.)
ShoP Architects’ Gregg Pasquarelli described the revisions and new elements of the project. The complex had initially been designed as a solid mass with a notch carved out on the waterfront facade to recall that there were once two piers on the site. The notch in the pier will remain, but the complex will now be divided into two structures, which will allow more natural light into the ground floor and break up the interior massing. While the complex’s public rooftop space would no longer be contiguous, connections to each side will remain.