Report backs Harlem waterfront proposal floated by Diaz Jr.
Study recommends building enormous residential, commercial space around West 146th Street
Ruben Diaz Jr., borough president for the Bronx, is propping up his plan for a waterfront district in South Harlem that could offer more than a million square feet of residential and commercial space to the area.
Diaz, who floated the idea to redevelop an “underutilized” industrial row between 138th and 149th streets last month, today released a review of a third-party report outlining how a Special Harlem River Waterfront District would benefit the area, Curbed reported.
“A mixed-use district will house thousands of residents, as well as numerous retail shops, theaters, restaurants and other street life activities and amenities,” Diaz said in the review. “All new development will require the construction of a publicly accessible waterfront esplanade.”
According to the report by the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, a sizable project fashioned after the Brooklyn Bridge Park is feasible because of a 2009 rezoning of the area. The report recommended building more than a million square feet of residential space and 865,000 square feet of commercial space in buildings ranging 130 to 400 feet high.
The plan could also feature 269,000 square feet of public space along the Harlem River and in a park between West 146th and 144th streets, according to renderings by Mangusson Architecture and Planning. [Curbed] — Angela Hunt