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oosevelt Island has become a more welcoming and enjoyable place due to the Riverwalk development project, which has brought over 4,000 new residents to eight new buildings north of the bridge. This large-scale endeavor, a joint venture between Related Companies and Hudson Companies since 1997, will be completed when the ninth and final tower, Riverwalk Heights, opens to tenants this month. The overall development includes over 2,100 apartments, with 40% designated as "affordable." The new tower at 430 Main Street, designed by Handel Architects, brings 357 units into the mix, with 104 reserved for employees of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which has purchased the complex's first building and has employees in several other buildings. The new tower's amenities include a 5,000 square-foot panoramic rooftop terrace with dining and screening rooms, a fitness center, and other facilities. Related/Hudson also controls 83,000 square feet of retail space across 25 stores on Main Street, which they have leased to essential services such as Duane Reade, Starbucks, and several cafes.
Riverwalk has brought new residential life to the island north of the 59th Street Bridge and the Tramway, just as the Cornell Tech complex brought science and services to the vacant land between the bridge and Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park at the southern tip. Related Companies President Bruce Beal noted that he was younger when they started working on Roosevelt Island 27 years ago. Hudson Companies President David Kramer recalled that when they were brought together by the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation to complete the island's master plan, they didn't know each other well. They suggested working together, and the partnership has been successful over the years, through various real estate cycles, financial crises, and COVID-19. The first apartment building opened in 2003, and since then, they have persevered and grown through all challenges.
In other news, communications and marketing company Orchestra plans to consolidate its eight different companies scattered around Manhattan into a single unified location: the whole 26th floor of 195 Broadway, L&L Holding Company's landmarked "wedding cake" tower in the heart of Downtown. The 42,000 square-foot lease will bring all of Orchestra's components under one roof: BerlinRosen, BrightMode Talent, Derris, Glen Echo Media Group, Inkhouse, Message Lab, M18, and Onward. These companies handle industries including consumer, tech, climate, education, healthcare, real estate, and travel. CBRE tristate CEO Mary Ann Tighe, who represented the tenant with Ariel Ball and Zac Price, said Orchestra required well-appointed space with best-in-class infrastructure and a turnkey solution to bring its entire network together. L&L was represented in-house by Jonathan Tootell, Tanya Grimaldo, and Giannina Brancato. The building's office tenants include Omnicon, HarperCollins, Payoneer, and Gucci, and restaurant Nobu.
