Adams Announces $400M Investment to Fund Fifth Avenue Redesign

New York Mayor Eric Adams’s plan to transform Fifth Avenue into the city’s very own Champs-Élysées has gotten one step closer to reality.

On Wednesday, Adams announced more than $400 million in investments to fully fund the city and the Future of Fifth Partnership’s transformation of the famous New York City street between Bryant Park and Central Park into a “pedestrian-centered boulevard,” according to a release.

Led by engineers Arcadis and Sam Schwartz alongside architect Field Operations, the redesign of Fifth Avenue — which is meant to spur economic growth and job creation in the city — represents the first time in 200 years that the avenue will be revamped, the announcement said.

Plus, the project is expected to pay for itself in less than five years through increased property and sales tax revenue resulting from more activity along the avenue, which is already responsible for 313,000 direct and indirect jobs, according to the announcement. 

“Thanks to hundreds of millions of new dollars we are infusing into Fifth Avenue, we are finally making what has been called ‘America’s Street of Dreams’ a pedestrian paradise by making it more walkable, greener and safer,” Adams said in a statement Wednesday.

The project is intended to create more sidewalk space for pedestrians along Fifth Avenue, which is currently 100 feet wide, with five traffic lanes and two 23-foot-wide sidewalks, according to the announcement.

Sidewalks along the corridor account for 46 percent of the space, which doesn’t sufficiently accommodate the amount of pedestrians that walk along it every day, according to Adams’s announcement, which is “equivalent [to] a full Madison Square Garden, plus 4,000 additional people.” 

The proposed redesign will widen sidewalks by 46 percent to 33.5 feet, shorten pedestrian crossings, reduce the number of traffic lanes from five to three, and add plants and lighting for a “safer” avenue, according to the release.

In addition, the city will begin construction to update the underground sewers and water mains along the stretch, as well as plant more than 230 new trees and add 20,000 square feet of planters and new seating.

“This historic investment is going to reinvigorate one of the world’s most important streets and set the stage for another triumphant 200 years on Fifth Avenue,” Madelyn Wils, CEO of business improvement district Fifth Avenue Association, said in a statement. “Hundreds of thousands of people come to Fifth Avenue every day — and most of them are pedestrians. This visionary plan will rebalance and reinvigorate Fifth Avenue to better serve both New Yorkers and tourists alike.”

A schematic design of the project is underway and set to be completed this summer, according to the announcement.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.