Pasquarelli Still Wants to SHoP at South Street Seaport
By Matt Chaban September 28, 2010 11:04 pm
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At today’s Atlantic Yards announcement, the Real Estate Desk asked Gregg Pasquarelli, who unveiled a new plaza for the Barclays Center, what the status was with another of his firm’s projects, the South Street Seaport. Mr. Pasquarelli noted that the project’s owner, General Growth Properties, is still negotiating its way out of bankruptcy, but the architect seemed confident it would make it. The result will be two companies — one with all of General Growth’s existing mall properties, another, backed by Brookfield, with all the development projects.
“We assume the Seaport will be going forward at some point,” Mr. Pasquarelli said. “We believe it’s one of their best assets, so we hope it’s one they’ll be working on soon.”
Before the company collapsed in the face of the recession, which hobbled retailers nationwide — but especially the over-leveraged General Growth — it had planned to transform the stodgy Pier 17 into a megaplex of shopping and apartments, including a latticework 42-story tower, all designed by SHoP. The project was facing stiff opposition from the Landmarks Preservation Commission but never came to a full vote because the collapse of the company took precedence.
