Real Estate Advisors & Property Strategy Consultants

J Richard Hill

Coney Island

Coney Island

Brooklyn, New York / open
J. Richard Hill and Co. was engaged by Thor Equities to develop the retail, dining, and entertainment plan for the historic amusement park Coney Island, located on the seaside of Brooklyn, New York. Thor had assembled a large land holding in the center of Coney Island by buying numerous parcels once owned by individual family ride, concession, and game operators in Coney

Island. This billion-dollar redevelopment strategy called for high density hotel and residential development in the heart of Coney Island along with a complete restoration and renaissance of America’s first true amusement park, which dates back to the 1840s.
Coney Island

The restoration and
renaissance of America’s

Market Research
Market research revealed that the area had the largest collection of writers, dancers, musicians, and artists in the world – all living within a 10- to 15-minute commute of the site. We therefore embedded cultural production, artistic expression, and places of socialization into the redevelopment strategy which was not in some of the earlier plans.
Coney Island
Results
A large portion of Coney Island has been redeveloped in recent years.

10-mile Demographics
1,033,600 – population
373,412 – households
$87,382 – Avg. household income

first amusement park.

Coney Island
Concept Plan
We created a concept plan that was not as massive and dominant as previous plans. The heart of the J. Richard Hill plan was a call for a number of “walks” connecting the beach and boardwalk to the adjacent streets and subways.

Various retail neighborhoods were developed with common merchandising themes. The retail neighborhoods were connected and integrated with strategic retail venues consisting of major restaurants, iconic retailers, and entertainment destinations.

The final product created a series of one-of-a-kind places including a quarter-mile “dance walk” connecting the boardwalk to the street, a “carousel makers” restaurant with an authentic carousel and a wooden horse restoration center, rooftop beer gardens, an indoor water park with two hotels, a new “sideshow” district to preserve the art of sideshow entertainers, a new “fun house,” a permanent home for the Big Apple Circus, and an entirely new amusement park centered around the historic Wonder Wheel and the Cyclone Roller Coaster, both national historic landmarks.
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J Richard Hill
rick.hill@jrichardhill.com
502.417.4361
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