HDR receives Phoenix Award for revitalizing Hunts Point Project

PEARL RIVER, N.Y. — An HDR project to revitalize the Hunts Point peninsula in the South Bronx, N.Y., was named a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 Phoenix Award winner. The winning projects were recently honored at an awards ceremony during Brownfields 2013 in Atlanta. The Phoenix Award is widely recognized as the premier award of excellence in brownfield redevelopment and revitalization.

The Hunts Point peninsula in the South Bronx was transformed from a blighted and contaminated zone into an economic and environmental success. The opening of a 167,000-square-foot Anheuser-Busch distribution facility on Hunts Point was made possible by successful remediation of a 12-acre waterfront site. The site had been home to one of the largest manufactured gas plants in New York City but had been abandoned for 50 years.

The project addressed multiple and overlapping issues, from remediating a contaminated site to protecting the coastline from a 100-year flood event, and designing both commercial and open public space. Planning and implementation of green remediation principles minimized the environmental cleanup footprint, and material reuse alone saved more than $6.5 million. HDR performed all elements of this complex remediation project, including coordination with regulatory agencies and oversight of the environmental compliance during construction of the LEED Silver warehouse and distribution facility as well as the public access Greenway Park.

Angela Stowe, project manager in HDR’s Pearl River office, accepted the award for the project team.