RFP: Oper­a­tors of events, food & hos­pi­tal­i­ty needed to reuse & rede­vel­op historic build­ings on NYC’s revitalized Gov­er­nors Island

In New York Harbor, the former military outpost of Gov­er­nors Island has under­gone a tremen­dous revitalization, redevelopment and ecological restoration over the last decade, includ­ing the cre­ation of a resilient 43-acre park, a grow­ing arts and cul­tur­al pro­gram, and remark­able growth in audi­ence.

The Island is now home to a diverse num­ber of year-round ten­ants, includ­ing the Urban Assem­bly New York Har­bor School, the Low­er Man­hat­tan Cul­tur­al Coun­cil, the Bil­lion Oys­ter Project, Shan­dak­en Projects, Beam Cen­ter, the Insti­tute for Pub­lic Archi­tec­ture, and QC NY Spa, as well as But­ter­milk Labs — a new mul­ti-ten­ant hub for coastal cli­mate solu­tions announced in Fall 2021.

The Trust is cur­rent­ly in the process of attract­ing an anchor edu­ca­tion­al and research insti­tu­tion as part of the Cen­ter for Cli­mate Solu­tions, a ground­break­ing ini­tia­tive designed to fur­ther New York City as a glob­al leader in efforts to respond to the cli­mate cri­sis.

A key part of May­or Eric Adams’ ​Rebuild, Renew, Rein­vent: A Blue­print for NYC’s Eco­nom­ic Recov­ery, the project will sup­port the research, devel­op­ment and demon­stra­tion of equi­table cli­mate solu­tions for New York City — that can be scaled and applied globally.

Now, on July 14, 2022, the Trust for Gov­er­nors Island has released two Request for Pro­pos­als (RFPs) invit­ing oper­a­tors of event, food and bev­er­age, and hos­pi­tal­i­ty venues to ground lease, rede­vel­op and oper­ate sev­er­al build­ings through­out Gov­er­nors Island’s His­toric Dis­trict.

The RFPs build upon the Trust’s recent mile­stone of open­ing Gov­er­nors Island to the pub­lic year-round and sup­port the long-term vision to expand vis­i­tor ameni­ties while breath­ing new life into fifty land­marked for­mer mil­i­tary buildings.

“Gov­er­nors Island has become a cul­tur­al and recre­ation­al ​‘must see’ in New York City,” said Deputy May­or for Eco­nom­ic and Work­force Devel­op­ment Maria Torres-Springer. ​“Today’s RFP release is a crit­i­cal step to also make the Island a full-ser­vice hos­pi­tal­i­ty des­ti­na­tion, spurring our eco­nom­ic recov­ery through tourism and job cre­ation. I thank the Gov­er­nors Island team for their vision­ary stew­ard­ship of this unique New York City resource.”

“In the past year Gov­er­nors Island has grown tremen­dous­ly as a vibrant resource for all New York­ers, with open space now acces­si­ble year-round, an array of arts and cul­tur­al pro­grams, new ameni­ties, and a grow­ing com­mu­ni­ty of ten­ants,” said Clare New­man, Pres­i­dent and CEO of The Trust for Gov­er­nors Island. ​“Through the release of these RFPs, we are excit­ed to make progress on expand­ing ways for New York­ers to enjoy all the Island has to offer, while fur­ther­ing our long-term com­mit­ment to breath­ing new life into our his­toric assets. We look for­ward to receiv­ing pro­pos­als from New York City’s diverse hos­pi­tal­i­ty community.”.

Through the two RFPs released today, The Trust is mak­ing avail­able up to 45,000 SF of space across five build­ings locat­ed with­in the Gov­er­nors Island His­toric Dis­trict for adap­tive reuse by suc­cess­ful respon­dents. Prop­er­ties made avail­able through the RFPs include:

Build­ing 140: Request for Pro­pos­als Seek­ing Food and Bev­er­age Con­cepts and/​or Event Venues

Devel­op­ers and oper­a­tors of food and bev­er­age con­cepts and event venues are invit­ed to sub­mit pro­pos­als to ground lease, rede­vel­op, and oper­ate Build­ing 140 an approx­i­mate­ly 10,000 square-foot water­front build­ing on Gov­er­nors Island fea­tur­ing high ceil­ings, a col­umn-free inte­ri­or, and an approx­i­mate­ly 13,000-square-foot out­door water­front ter­race. Con­struct­ed in the mid-1800s as a muni­tions ware­house and used over the years as a bank and a post office, Build­ing 140 is locat­ed at Sois­sons Land­ing, Gov­er­nors Island’s pri­ma­ry fer­ry dock with 7‑minute ser­vice to Low­er Man­hat­tan, and fea­tures unob­struct­ed views of the Low­er Man­hat­tan sky­line, Brook­lyn Bridge, and New York Harbor.

Build­ings 1, 2, 3, and 25: Hos­pi­tal­i­ty and Vis­i­tor Amenities

Devel­op­ers and oper­a­tors of food and bev­er­age con­cepts, event and con­ven­ing spaces, overnight accom­mo­da­tions, and oth­er ameni­ty spaces are invit­ed to sub­mit pro­pos­als to ground lease, rede­vel­op, and oper­ate Build­ings 1, 2, 3, and 25 on Gov­er­nors Island. Togeth­er, the Build­ings offer approx­i­mate­ly 35,000 square feet of com­bined indoor space locat­ed with­in Nolan Park, for­mer­ly home to Com­mand­ing Officer’s quar­ters dur­ing Gov­er­nors Island’s his­to­ry as a US Army and Coast Guard Base, and today home to a grow­ing hub of arts and cul­tur­al ten­ants.

Suc­cess­ful respon­dents will be locat­ed adja­cent to the Nolan Park Cul­tur­al Cam­pus, a grow­ing hub of cul­tur­al orga­ni­za­tions pro­vid­ing dynam­ic pub­lic pro­grams dur­ing the Island’s spring, sum­mer and fall sea­sons. Over time, the Trust plans to grow Nolan Park as a per­ma­nent, mul­ti-dis­ci­pli­nary arts and cul­ture cam­pus, pro­vid­ing afford­able space to cul­tur­al orga­ni­za­tions and attract­ing a grow­ing audi­ence of vis­i­tors expe­ri­enc­ing the Island’s arts pro­gram. Suc­cess­ful respon­dents will help com­ple­ment this unique and grow­ing cul­tur­al des­ti­na­tion with sup­port­ing amenities.

Now open to the pub­lic year-round, Gov­er­nors Island is home to a robust cal­en­dar of free pub­lic pro­grams and events, out­door recre­ation activ­i­ties, diverse arts and cul­tur­al expe­ri­ences, and more to explore.

Pro­pos­als will be eval­u­at­ed based on the Respondent’s pro­posed pro­gram and vision, includ­ing serv­ing a broad and diverse audi­ence and align­ing with the Trust’s cli­mate and sus­tain­abil­i­ty goals, team and fea­si­bil­i­ty, pro­posed terms, and qual­i­ty of design.

Respons­es to both RFPs are due Octo­ber 31, 2022, by 5:00 p.m.

See full RFP doc­u­ments.