South Brooklyn Marine Terminal
South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, 2nd Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, USA
The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal is the largest port facility to earn WEDG Verification. The site in Sunset Park, Brooklyn is a 75-acre facility built to accommodate renewable energy projects, maritime logistics, and heavy-lift operations. Developed by Equinor’s U.S. affiliate with a design team led by Jacobs and constructed by Skanska, the project embedded community and environmental features that go far above and beyond those of a standard port infrastructure project. Among the first purpose-built container and intermodal terminals in the world, the historic and contaminated port site sat derelict for decades. After major site remediation and a complete rebuild, today it is a model best-in-class practices for sustainable and resilient maritime industrial development.
The River Mile: South Platte River Restoration Project
Denver, CO, USA
The River Mile: South Platte River Restoration Project is the fifteenth project nationally to earn WEDG® (Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines) Verification and the first riverine project under Version 3.0 of the standard. Led by design team leads Calibre Engineering and Wenk Landscape Architects, The River Mile sets out to restore the South Platte River channel to its natural depth, shape, and flow, providing more capacity in the face of flood events. In revitalizing the river through nature-based solutions, the project creates new habitation for in-river and shoreline animals and plants, and new enhanced connections to the water for community members.
Illinois Beach State Park Shoreline Stabilization Project
Lake County, Illinois, USA
The Illinois Beach State Park Shoreline Stabilization Project is the first freshwater project and 14th national project to earn WEDG Verification. Faced with chronic beach erosion from Lake Michigan’s waves, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and Capital Development Board with design team Moffatt & Nichol, designed an innovative stone breakwater system to protect the last remaining natural shoreline in the state of Illinois. The project goes beyond the traditional protection that a breakwater provides by fostering habitat space within the stone structures.
South Battery Park City Resiliency – Wagner Park
Wagner Park, Battery Place, New York, NY, USA
The South Battery Park City Resiliency (SBPCR) Project is the second component of the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency Master Plan and 13th national project to earn WEDG Verification. Led by the Battery Park City Authority and AECOM’s design team, this project aims to protect the area spanning the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Wagner Park, and Pier A Plaza, as well as adjacent Battery Park City and other portions of Lower Manhattan from intensifying climate change impacts. The project strategically incorporates resilience features into the site, introduces ecology along Pier A, and increases overall accessibility of the park.
Jose Marti Park
Jose Marti Park, Southwest 4th Avenue, Miami, FL, USA
Jose Marti Park, a 13-acre multi-use recreational space located along the Miami River, and within the Little Havana neighborhood, is the first project to earn WEDG® (Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines) Verification in the state of Florida. The project is designed to manage stormwater and reduce flooding against sea level rise and storm surge, while also restoring and creating new marine habitats. The park is intended to create an area of complete public access with connections to water and maritime activities. This case study is also available in Spanish.
East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) Project
Stuyvesant Cove Park, Fdr Drive Service Road East, New York, NY, USA
The East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project is the first component of the Lower Manhattan Coastal Resiliency project to earn WEDG® (Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines) Verification. The project is designed to substantially reduce flood risk from coastal storms and sea level rise along the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The project’s goals include ensuring that residents— including those in affordable and public housing—businesses, and critical infrastructure are protected from coastal storms. The project also improves access and open space along the waterfront in East River Park and Stuyvesant Cove Park.
North Waterfront Park
5 N Water St, Wilmington, NC, 28401
Along the Cape Fear River, North Waterfront Park, previously a lumber yard mill and cargo weigh station for the Port of Wilmington, has been transformed into 6.6 acres of newly-accessible, versatile, waterfront open-space as well as a 7,000-capacity performance venue. As a new cultural destination for the City of Wilmington, the site goes above and beyond a singular purpose as a concert venue. The design enhances physical connections to nature and the water by mimicking the natural shoreline and drawing coastal marshes into the site. The design also seeks to encourage stewardship activities and reflection upon the City’s past with waterfront gardens that immerse visitors into the native riparian landscape, interpretive signage, and an interactive water fountain evoking a tidal spray
Bronx Point
65 E 149th St, The Bronx, NY, USA
The first affordable housing project to be verified through the national WEDG standard, Bronx Point provides 540 units of 100% permanently affordable housing, is home to the Universal Hip Hop Museum and community programming spaces, and a 2.3-acre resilient waterfront park. Working closely with city agencies, the design team conducted over twenty public engagement events tailored to local interests and needs, including on-site canvassing, presentations in senior centers, and issuing digital surveys to maximize diverse input. The result is a waterfront project that balances complex needs for public park access, affordable housing, cultural programming, shoreline ecology, and resilience.
Oak Point/ McInnis Cement
50 Oak Point Avenue, The Bronx, NY, USA
Oak Point/ McInnis Cement Marine Terminal is a 28-acre waterfront industrial property in the South Bronx. Once New York City’s largest illegal landfill, Oak Point/ McInnis now host new maritime industry and restored native wetlands, as well as a public waterfront walkway. The McInnis Cement terminal at Oak Point is the first industrial marine project in the Bronx in more than 50 years. Large ocean-going vessels deliver cement from the company’s plant in Quebec to the Bronx about once a month, sending the cement through a piping system to the waterside terminal. Use of the marine highway greatly reduces traffic congestion, truck emissions, and associated public health and safety risks in Hunts Point.
Sandy Hook Pilots Association
201 Edgewater St, Staten Island, NY, USA
The Sandy Hook Pilots Association has a rich and storied tradition of piloting larger vessels in New York Harbor, Hudson River, Hell Gate, and Long Island Sound since the 17th century. A critical maritime institution, they pilot more than 10,000 ships annually—all foreign-flag and U.S.-regulated vessels—and have responded to numerous emergencies throughout the region over the years. Their former Staten Island headquarters was destroyed by Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and they decided to build back better and stronger, ensuring they passed on a more resilient facility to future generations. The new state-of-art facility, built from the ground up, overlays resiliency in all aspects of it design, while also being a good neighbor to the local community. The design elements found below contributed to its designation.
Domino Sugar
325 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Two Trees’ Domino Sugar Site reconnects South Williamsburg to its waterfront and incorporates elements of the historic Domino Sugar factory. The project addresses the unique conditions along the East River, focusing on enhanced public access to the waterfront and resilient strategies in response to climate change conditions.
Brooklyn Bridge Park
Brooklyn Bridge Park, Furman Street, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Brooklyn Bridge Park exemplifies the principles of the WEDG program to balance and support access, resiliency, and ecology, and its high score reflects the attention to sustainability given to it by its designers and operators. This award-winning, regional park serves more than 4 million visitors each summer with robust programming and events for all types of uses and interests.
Sunset Park Materials Recovery Facility
472 2nd Ave, Brooklyn, NY, USA
The Sunset Park Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) was awarded the first- ever “WEDG-certified” designation at MWA’s annual Heroes of the Harbor Gala on October 6, 2014. The Sunset Park MRF is the anchor to NYC’s curbside recycling program, handling a majority of the city’s recyclables. After more than a decade of planning, design, permit acquisition, and construction, Sims Metal Management, an international recycling company, opened this state-of-the-art recycling plant on the Sunset Park waterfront in December 2013. The facility exemplifies the principles of the WEDG program by providing enduring resiliency, sustainable ecology, and engaging public access, all within an industrial/maritime use. The design elements found below contributed to its designation.
Hunter’s Point South
Hunter's Point South Park, Center Boulevard, Long Island City, NY, USA
Emphasizing sustainable design and equitable development, the project achieved an exemplary WEDG score, garnering more than 200 out of 401 possible points. Situated on 30 acres of prime waterfront property, Hunter’s Point South will eventually provide up to 5,000 housing units, 60 percent of which will be affordable for low/moderate income families. The New York City Economic Development Corporation is responsible for the design and construction of the project’s infrastructure, roads, and an 11-acre waterfront park. The site’s resilient design features performed well during Superstorm Sandy, which struck during construction of Phase 1.
Greenpoint Landing
Greenpoint Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Greenpoint Landing’s waterfront open space derived from the need for a resilient edge—one that is performative in face of potential flooding and that at the same time helps protect the upland neighborhood. The 20-acre mixed-use development will transform this formerly industrial waterfront to 5,500 residential units, a new public school, and approximately four acres of public open space. Phase 1 has been assessed by the WEDG program and comprises 7.5 total acres.
The project sought to integrate resilient design with public amenities by forming a unique terraced esplanade lining the waterfront. Lower terraces can sustain periodic inundation—both in volume and durability of material and planting—and upper terraces are elevated above the 100-year flood zone, providing further protection.
Starlight Park
Starlight Park, Sheridan Expressway, Bronx, NY, USA
The result of a decades-long community-driven planning effort, the creation of this 25-acre park on previously inaccessible brownfield sites closes an important gap in the 25-mile Bronx River Greenway, reconnecting local communities to a restored waterfront with active and passive recreational features, including the state of the art Bronx River House. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) created the park masterplan, and the New York City Departments of Parks and Recreation and Design and Construction completed the Bronx River House, which serves as the new headquarters for the park’s lead programming partner, the Bronx River Alliance. The park’s design and engineering consultants included NV5, WSP, Hardesty and Hanover. Kiss + Cathcart Architects and Starr Whitehouse designed the Bronx River House.1
