Herald and Greely Square wins International Downtown award.

According to RFR Realty's Richard Farley, "There's a good feeling about the Herald Square neighborhood, about how far it's come and where it will be in the future."

Farley, quoted in Real Estate Weekly this spring, said the good feeling and "commitment" from property owners and major retailers is a "direct result of the 34th St. Partnership's efforts to improve their district," notably, the Partnership's Herald and Greeley Square rejuvenation.

This good feeling on the part of major realtors like. Parley, should get another boost from this summer's news: the International Downtown Association (IDA) conferred its 2000 Downtown Achievement Award on Herald and Greeley Square in the competition's new "Public Space" category.

"The jury was impressed by the dramatic changes that took place. in both squares," said IDA manager for membership services, Manuel Ochoa. The 34th Street Partnership's rescue of the spaces, Ochoa added, made them "enjoyable for everyone."

Members of the a wards panel included directors of the IDA itself, the International Events &

Festivals Association, the Philadelphia Planning Commission, a Virginia down town improvement district, and the May ors' Institute on City Design. "Jurors with design sensibilities," Ochoa reported, deemed Herald/Greeley, "'a perfect example of what should be done with a public space... a national model."

The honor of the award coincided with the first anniversary of the spaces' re-opening to the public. Earlier this year, the Partnership also received recognition for Herald and Greeley Squares on a cal level: the space was awarded with a New York City Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy. The IDA 2000 award is the second from the Association to the business improvement district -- in 1997, 34th St. Partnership won a downtown management award for its retail improvement program.

The 34th St. Bill, launched in 1992, spent $2.3 million and about two years to reclaim the sister squares for midtown shoppers, workers, and tourists. To enter the IDA competition, projects had to be 90 to 95% completed; the last phase of herald/Greeley, now nearing completion, will furnish each square with a kiosk to. house a newsstand,, a public toilet, and in Greeley Square, even a coffee bar.

To support its application for the IDA award, the Pa presented 10 slides, including "Before" and "After" views, with captions detailing improvements by the Partnership, and the philosophy behind the work.

The award application cited eight tenets of urban park design, based on those of parks-use visionary William H. Whyte, including such conditions as movable chairs so visitors could sit where they chose to, the presence of food service and toilets, perimeters established with service kiosks, as opposed to walls, etc. The application also stressed the impact -- both human and commercial of the squares' physical and functional impact on a populous midtown area. The Partnership estimated that 100 million pedestrians annually pass through the Herald Square intersection, Broadway/Sixth Ave., and 34th St. Once strictly a hardscape, the application pointed out, 34th St. today offers the charming, safe spaces -- 'seductive "reasons to' linger when your business is done." And though the parks are closed to the public by night, bathed in white, metal halide light, they remain a visible feature in the urban fabric.

The aggregate of scores of design decisions, the award application said, "has turned eyesores into assets," accelerating demand for neighboring store leases, driving up sf prices as high as 10 times the pre-rejuvenation rates. Nearby development activity runs the gamut from fashion-forward shoe and apparel stores, to big, multi-level projects, two of which are scheduled to open this fall -- red hot Swedish import H&M, facing the park at 2 Herald Square, and LVMH's beauty en tree into the 34th St. market, Sephora.

And the Herald/Greeley project graphically shows the impact on a shopping neighborhood, even on the city at large -- the old squares were "symbols of a blighted New York," according to the New York Times. The project also invites the conclusion that esthetic and quality of life benefits and commercial returns are closely linked.

The 34th St. Partnership will accept the special achievement award next month at the Los Angeles Biltmore "bowl," where the guests will include representatives from every state in the Union and several foreign countries.