You are hereSuperblock RFP Response - HR&A
Superblock RFP Response - HR&A
The Village of Nyack (the “Client”) has made remarkable progress towards the revitalization of its
downtown and the Superblock site through the adoption of a Comprehensive Plan in 2007, subsequent
amendments to the zoning code to conform to the Comprehensive Plan, and the works and
recommendations of the Mayor’s Task Force and the Citizens Committee’s respective reports on the
development of the Superblock. While these collective works have laid the foundation to transform the
Superblock into a revitalized town center, a number of challenges remain in achieving a redevelopment
that will also facilitate social, cultural and economic development along Main Street and throughout the
downtown region. As you are aware, a redevelopment of the Superblock must synthesize the demands
and needs of the market and consumer with principles of placemaking that integrate use, design and
management of public space in order to achieve a successful sense of place.
Creating and implementing downtown redevelopments that include public open space and cultural
components and also serve as catalysts for economic and real estate growth is at the core of HR&A’s
expertise. HR&A is an industry-leading real estate, economic development, and strategic planning
consulting firm based in New York with more than three decade’s experience in analyzing similar
revitalization efforts and achieving results for clients in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. Our
work has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including the International Economic
Development Council’s 2009 Public-Private Partnership Award for our work in Cincinnati, the New Jersey
Futures 2009 Smart Growth Award for our work on the Newark Broad Street Station plan, and the 2005
AIA Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design for the Anacostia Waterfront Initiatives. Our public and
private sector clients call upon us time and again in large measure because they appreciate that our
deliverables provide visionary plans that are grounded in market reality and pragmatism that can be
successfully implemented.
We have assembled an exceptionally well-qualified team that has a proven track-record achieving
successful outcomes for similar projects. The HR&A Team includes:
-- H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture, LLC | H3 is an internationally-renowned architectural,
historical preservation and urban design firm that focuses on public and cultural buildings, including
performing art facilities, as evidenced in the recently completion of the Two River Theater facility in
Red Bank, NJ and the town center design for Forest City Ratner’s Ridge Hill Village.
-- Saccardi & Schiff, Inc. | The firm has provided site plan review and redevelopment planning
services that have achieved successful redevelopments in towns and villages throughout New York
State, including the implementation of the City of White Plains’ most recent Comprehensive Plan as well as ongoing redevelopment services for the past 10 years of the 96-acre General Motors Site
along the Hudson River Waterfront in the Village of Sleepy Hollow.
John Collins Engineers, P.C. | An engineering firm that has been involved in numerous traffic and
parking studies including the analyses for the DEIS and FEIS in Downtown Yonkers, parking analysis
of the environmental review for the expansion of the White Plains Hospital, and a traffic, access and
parking evaluation for a mixed-use warehouse conversion in Mount Kisco.
We have an in-depth understanding of leveraging arts and culture as a tool for economic and
community development. HR&A has developed complex economic and fiscal impact studies as well as
cultural district development strategies that have secured funding and generated economic and real estate
development. Prior projects have included the half-billion dollar New Jersey Performing Arts Center, a
plan to reinvigorate the Church Street Cultural District in Greensboro, N.C. as well as the Brooklyn Cultural
Consortium. Our work on the Superblock will not only focus on the future of the Helen Hayes Performing
Arts Center but on strengthening and diversifying the overall cultural community in Nyack.
We are experts in downtown revitalization and mixed-use real estate and economic development. As
exemplified in HR&A’s development and impact analysis for a mixed-use development program for the
Town of New Castle on the former Reader’s Digest Site and our ongoing development advisory services on
a mixed-use redevelopment of 37-acres along Newburg’s central waterfront, HR&A’s core practice is
concerned with how to catalyze private development that will enliven downtown districts and cultivate ongoing
growth.
We are a trusted financial advisor that recommends strategic initiatives that generate interest among
private development community and facilitate public-private partnerships. HR&A is consistently resultsoriented,
making it a top priority to recommend development strategies for public agencies and private
developers alike that are financially feasible and garner widespread support. Our work with public
agencies including the City of Newark, Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation, Hudson
River Park Trust and the Mayoral Task Force in Washington D.C., has achieved collaborative publicprivate
partnerships that have resulted in successful developments programs.
While the HR&A Team has extensive experience on similar types of projects, we also know that each
project is unique. As we are eager to employ our experience and lessons learned from other projects, we
are similarly energized to work with the Village of Nyack in a collaborative approach in order to
facilitate the development of a collection of new, vibrant experiences and places on the Superblock site.
