DETAILS
What is now three miles of underutilized and neglected waterfront property is envisioned as a vibrant new mixed-use community, with a dramatic ribbon of riverfront parks and walkways that are intertwined with small neighborhoods and upland connections. A new open space system was conceived and given form as a critical component of the vision plan in which Thomas Balsley Associates participated with Cooper Robertson Partners, the city’s stakeholders, and Detroit’s Economic Development Corporation.
The 240-acre park experience ranges from broad, sweeping greenswards and state parks along a naturalized shoreline to large, interpretive grassland parks. Smaller social and active spaces for play, gatherings, and events enrich the park experience. All have been conceived of as common grounds for a new and diverse community, with river heritage narratives woven throughout in the language and culture of 21st century recreation. When completed, these parks will finally link Hart Plaza at the city’s downtown center to pastoral Belle Isle, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, and in doing so, reintroduce the citizens to their river and the world to a new image of Detroit.
Riverside Park South
On the West Side of Manhattan, on the scenic Hudson River shoreline, Riverside Park South is a massive, multi-phase project of sweeping ambition and historic scope. Combining new greenspace, new infrastructure, and the renovation of landmark industrial buildings, the plan—originally devised by Thomas Balsley Associates in 1991—is an extension of Frederick Law ...
Downtown Flushing Framework
The development framework for Downtown Flushing seizes on the unique and significant attributes of the area and connects them into a cohesive whole, implementing improvements to the public realm and incentivizing high-quality private development. The framework builds upon the rich history and cultural diversity of Downtown Flushing; the study area currently e...
Queens West Open Space Master Plan
Queens West is a new mixed-use community planned for the Long Island City shoreline, directly across from midtown Manhattan and the United Nations. Central to its urban plan is an extensive open space system that includes upland and waterfront parks as well as streetscape. Beginning with conceptual plans the Thomas Balsley Associates team, together with Weintr...
Pacific Park
Description: Pacific Park is a major mixed-use development in the Atlantic Terminal area of Brooklyn, New York. When complete, it will occupy approximately 22 acres, including the air rights above the approximately nine-acre, below-grade Long Island Rail Road Storage Yard.
The open space, with an area of about eight acres at grade, is being designed by ...