Firms chosen to create Gov's Island land plan.

Three companies have been chosen to head up a team of specialists who will create a land use plan for Governors Island, the former military base turned over to the City and State last year by the Federal Government.

Last week, the Governors Island Preservation & Education Corporation announced the selection of a consultant team to be led by Robert Charles Lesser & Co, Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects, and Urban Strategies Inc. to develop the conceptual land use plan and program of future uses for Governors Island. An additional 22 acres of the Island has been designated as the Governors Island National Monument and is owned and operated by the National Park Service.

"Among the key early challenges GIPEC faces is crafting a vision for Governors Island that embodies the site's enormous potential, but is economically feasible and attracts significant private investor interest," said Deputy Mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff, who is also Vice Chairman of GIPEC.

"We have an opportunity to make Governors Island one of New York City's great destinations for residents and visitors, while also serving the business community that is 800 yards away.

"The consultant team we've chosen has a range of experience not just creating plans, but in implementing them as well--in New York and around the world."

The consultant team's work will establish an updated baseline of information; provide surveys of existing Island conditions; and assist in the process of identifying a set of preferred redevelopment scenarios and potential anchor tenants, as well as matching uses to appropriate spaces. GIPEC and the RCLCo team will work very closely with the National Park Service, which is preparing its own plan for the future use of the 22-acre Governors Island National Monument.

The pre-development and planning phase, to be completed by fall 2004, will create the framework--a conceptual land-use plan and program of uses--for Governors Island that will help to optimize and hasten the work of the subsequent detailed master planning process.

GIPEC plans to issue an RFP to select the master-planning consultant by fall 2004, and adopt an overall master plan in 2005.

The consultant team brings together a group of accomplished professionals with global experience creatively planning and successfully implementing large-scale urban waterfront and other complex, mixed-use developments.

Each firm is distinguished in its field, representing the three key disciplines needed for this first phase of Governors Island's redevelopment: insightful market analysis and development strategy; historic preservation and adaptive reuse of landmark structures; and 'place-making,' a key element of successful urban planning and redevelopment.

The island sits roughly 800 yards off the southern tip of Manhattan and half that distance from the Brooklyn waterfront.

Owned by New York State until 1800, the island was conveyed to the federal government through several transactions from 1800 to 1903 and was subsequently occupied and managed by the U.S. Army and the U.S. Coast Guard until 1995.