On June 21, 2010, the NYC Brownfield Partnership hosted its second annual Big Apple Brownfield Awards Ceremony at the New York University School of Law and recognized five of New York City’s most outstanding brownfield redevelopment projects.  Awards were presented in the categories of Open Space, Economic Development, Environmental Protection, Green Building, and Affordable Housing.

Located on White Plains Road, the Bronx Park Apartments is a 7-story mixed-use building consisting of 74 units of affordable housing and approximately 11,000 square feet of commercial space on a former gas station and auto repair shop site. The retail component of the building is being leased to a major supermarket chain, a much needed amenity that was pursued by local residents. The business is anticipated to create approximately 50 permanent jobs for managers, warehouse workers, grocery workers, and administrative staff.

Collaborative Partners: The Arker Companie; Phillips Nizer, LLP; Hugo S. Subotovsky, AIA; Environmental Business Consultants; AMC Engineering

Frank Gehry’s innovative IAC headquarters demonstrates excellence in synergy between brownfield redevelopment and green building design.  The site, which housed a manufactured gas plant during the 19th century, posed remedial and construction challenges due to contaminated soil and groundwater.  After environmental concerns were properly addressed, the subsequent building design integrated innovative approaches to water and energy use reduction including, among other elements, a computer driven shade control system to monitor daylight and constructing the building’s roof with a highly reflective material to reduce the building’s overall heat load.

Collaborative Partners: The Georgetown Company; Gehry Partners; Adamson Associates; Environmental Liability Management, LLC; Sive, Paget & Riesel, P.C.; Turner Construction and Urban Construction

The Atlantic Avenue Apartment Complex, located on a former 50,628 square foot vacant lot in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, is the product of successful remedial and redevelopment efforts. The property had been vacant since the 1970s. The project was only the fourth multi-family, high-rise building in the country to receive Energy-star certification from the USEPA through NYSERDA’s Multifamily Performance Program (it beat the baseline efficiency of ASHRAE 90.1 by 20%). The 150-unit complex now offers a spacious community room, a beautifully landscaped yard, a children’s play area and a daycare service. Apartments have been rented to households in four income tiers serving families with a broad range of incomes from 40% of Area Median Income (HUD’s annual calculation by county) to 90% of AMI.

Collaborative Partners: Dunn Development Corp; MHANY Management, Inc.; HLS Builders Corp.; SLCE Architects, LLP; CA Rich Consultants, Inc.

Concurrent with American Airlines’ $1.3 billion terminal redevelopment project at JFK International Airport, URS Corp. and American Airlines collaborated to remediate subsurface environmental contamination at Concourses A and B caused by aged infrastructure.  In total, approximately 300,000 gallons of free product and 18 million gallons of groundwater were remediated.

Collaborative Partners: American Airlines; URS Corporation

Family owned for four generations, the Atlas Terminals Industrial Park housed a number of industries from 1922 to the 1980s. Damon Hemmerdinger, a fourth-generation developer, was interested in cleaning the property and converting it to a more productive use.  In the true spirit of community outreach, the owner wanted to give back to the same community that had sustained his family’s Atlas Terminals Industrial Park for four generations. The Shops at Atlas Park, known as a lifestyle center, the first of its kind in New York State, includes more than two acres of  public recreational open space in the center of the development that is surrounded by retail specialty shops, restaurants, and a movie theater. The Shops at Atlas Park is both an entertainment and shopping destination designed to significantly enhance the lifestyle of residents in the immediate Glendale, Forest Hills and Middle Village areas as well as residents throughout the five boroughs and beyond.

Collaborative Partners: ATCO Properties & Management, Inc.; A&Co, LLC; Langan Environmental & Engineering Services, P.C.; Knauf Shaw LLP