Harriman appointed prime consultant for New Bedford waterfront redevelopment plan

New Bedford, MA Harriman has been selected to complete a Waterfront Redevelopment Plan by the New Bedford Harbor Development Commission. The plan will identify strategies to strengthen New Bedford’s working waterfront and deep-water harbor, and identify opportunities to draw visitors from the downtown to experience the vibrancy of the waterfront.

As the nation’s leading commercial fishing port and processing center, the Port of New Bedford holds the potential to support a variety of industries, including commercial fishing, cargo, offshore wind operations, and other water-dependent industrial uses. The redevelopment plan will provide specific implementation steps and public actions tied to a timeline and potential financing structure and tailored to the specific needs of the New Bedford community. The challenge is to respect and strengthen the Port’s current water-dependent industrial uses while providing safe public access at specific locations.

“We are thrilled to support the City of New Bedford in their quest to build a strong foundation for future development that will attract new business and economic opportunity,” said Emily Keys Innes, AICP, LEED AP ND, senior urban planner at Harriman. “With our dedicated urban design and planning studio, Harriman is the perfect fit for this project. We have the expertise to translate New Bedford’s strategic goals into a redevelopment plan that is responsive to complex economic, physical, regulatory and community considerations, and our extensive experience has prepared us to successfully navigate any complex issues that may arise. The redevelopment plan will guide future land use and development decisions so that New Bedford – the businesses in the Port, its residents, and its visitors – will enjoy a high performing and vibrant waterfront for years to come.”

Harriman was selected to spearhead this project because of its expertise in urban renewal, municipal harbor planning, and waterfront development, particularly for Massachusetts coastal communities. Harriman has developed a range of redevelopment studies and planning initiatives throughout New England, including the Assembly Sq. Urban Renewal Plan, Kerr Mill Urban Renewal Plan, the Salem Downtown Renewal Plan, and the Lawrence TBD Urban Renewal Plan, all in Massachusetts. Outside of Massachusetts, the firm’s experience includes involvement in urban renewal plans in Norwalk, Connecticut and Providence and West Warwick, Rhode Island, the latter of which received the 2014 Excellence in Neighborhood Planning Award from the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Planning Association.

Previously, the City of New Bedford engaged in strategic planning to integrate new business opportunities from the emerging offshore wind industry with New Bedford’s commercial fishing, cargo, and cultural tourism sectors. While the original strategy, led by Sasaki Associates, looked at the whole waterfront, this process is now tasked with planning for key focus areas that will have the greatest impact in revitalizing the waterfront.

The same team is collaborating again for the Waterfront Redevelopment Plan, and in addition to Harriman as the lead urban planners, includes Sasaki Associates of Watertown, Mass. for urban design and land use planning, APEX of New Bedford for environmental analysis, and FXM Associates of Mattapoisett, Mass. for market and economic analysis. The team has been expanded to include Boston-based HSH Associates for transportation planning, and Bonz & Company for their real estate development expertise. Harriman and the City of New Bedford finalized the contract on December 22, 2016.