Lenox & Quinn Pedestrian Plaza

Liberty Harbor North is 80 acres and lies just west of the well-established Historic Paulus Hook neighborhood. The land between the two districts is interrupted and constrained by the Liberty Harbor Marina and the Saint Peters Prep athletic field. This condition severely limits opportunities to extend streets and develop pedestrian connections between the two distinct neighborhoods, sort of like an hourglass. A single development lot at the pinch point was the only opportunity to connect the two districts. However, if developed as originally zoned, the new building would have choked off the only potential connection between neighborhoods.

The design team recognized an opportunity to link neighborhoods and petitioned to the city to develop the site with two narrow taller buildings rather than one wide low-rise building. This move allowed a new permanent ROW to be established through the center of the site, extending the Morris Street ROW and linking Liberty Harbor North to Paulus Hook.

The existing zoning for the mixed-use development planned for the site had to be updated. This also created a burden on the developer. Our design team met with city planning and the existing neighborhood associations and worked out a deal to increase the buildings height which would allow for the new ROW. Thusly, Lenox and Quinn were developed with a pedestrian promenade extending between the two buildings and creating a link between the two neighborhoods. Residents of Paulus Hook will now be able to access the new Light Rail Station in Liberty Harbor North and those residents of Liberty Harbor North can walk to Paulus Hook for other transit, restaurants, and schools.