We are excited to announce that Pier 57 has been recognized by the Urban Land Institute with a ULI New York Award for Excellence in Adaptive Reuse.
Originally designed by American architect and civil engineer Emil Praeger in the early 1950s, Pier 57 was the largest dock ever built by the City of New York. It operated as a shipping terminal for several years before the decline of the city’s maritime industry led to its conversion into a parking garage for city buses, a role it served for three decades. Vacant since 2003 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004, the pier found new life beginning in 2011, when Handel Architects was engaged to lead its renovation and restoration into a dynamic mixed-use destination.
Today, the transformed Pier 57 includes 320,000 square feet of office space—home to Google—two performance venues, and a 100-seat capacity restaurant and tasting room. Retail spaces anchor the ground floor, while the rooftop has been reimagined as an 80,000-square-foot public park with sweeping views of the Hudson River and an outdoor screening venue. The project also introduces expansive public areas that invite community engagement and celebrate the pier’s historic character.
Congratulations to our clients and partners, including Hudson River Park, RXR, Youngwoo & Associates, Google, !melk, AKRF, Silman Structural Solutions, and Higgins Quasebarth & Partners.
Great work from the Handel project team of Frank Fusaro, Gary Handel, Rick Kearns, Antonio Donofrio, Chun Hsu, David Woshinsky, Tom Florkewicz, Jessica Levine, Mindy Shields, PJ Ross, Kai-Yu Yu, Shaun Shih, Jonathan Morefield, Mat Leung, and Sarah Niesz.
