Biederman Redevelopment Ventures will manage and operate San Francisco's TransBay Center rooftop park

Biederman Redevelopment Ventures (BRV), a consulting firm that specializes in developing and operating public spaces, has been selected to manage and operate the planned rooftop park atop the new Transbay Transit Center in downtown San Francisco.

BRV is part of a management team led by commercial real estate developer Lincoln Property Company, hired by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority.

Dan Biederman, one of the country’s most prominent urban management and redevelopment consultants and the President of Biederman Redevelopment Ventures www.brvcorp.com, says his team will be responsible for the overall management, operations, programming and events, marketing, general administration, and revenue development of the new rooftop park.

Biederman gained national prominence in 1991 for his revitalization of New York City’s Bryant Park, transforming it from a crime-ridden, drug-filled, dangerous midtown Manhattan public space into one of America’s great urban parks.

“Our vision of the rooftop park at the Transbay Transit Center is an elevated urban oasis that offers the visitor experiences unlike any other public space in San Francisco,” says Biederman. “We aim to make the park an asset for the entire downtown and South of Market community, as well as a destination for people throughout the Bay Area.”

Biederman says the rooftop park, designed by PWP Landscape Architecture, will feature 13 different gardens, a great lawn with trees, movable chairs and tables, an 800-seat amphitheater for concerts and performances, a half-mile jogging track, and a restaurant. Typical BRV park programming being considered for the park includes yoga, exercise classes, farmers markets, nighttime movies, ping pong, chess, reading rooms, art shows, children’s programming, and concerts.

In addition to BRV, the Lincoln group includes Colliers International, a global real estate brokerage, which will manage the retail leasing, and Pearl Media, an out-of-home and experiential marketing agency, which will lead the media and promotional efforts for the venue.

BRV has considerable experience with aerial park development. It was a lead consultant in the planning, development, and operation of Klyde Warren Park in Dallas, TX, built atop a downtown freeway, uniting the city that had previously been divided by the roadway.

Biederman has consulted on urban redevelopment and management projects in 26 states and has vast experience in developing and managing public spaces. Parks developed and managed by Biederman around the country are recognized for their outstanding and rigorous programming and events.

The Transit Center www.transbaycenter.org is part of the larger Transbay Transit Center Program, an approximately $6 billion program to replace the former Transbay Terminal at First and Mission streets in downtown San Francisco with a modern regional transit station that will connect eight Bay Area counties and the State of California through eleven transit systems. The Program is being developed in two phases.

Phase 1, currently underway, includes design and construction of the above-grade portion of the Transit Center, including the approximately 5.4-acre park, retail areas, and a public art program. A rail tunnel extending commuter rail to the Transit Center and the build-out of the below-grade train station at the Transit Center will follow as Phase 2 of the Program. Phase 1 is expected to be completed with the opening of the Transit Center in spring 2018.

BRV works with some of the most successful privately managed urban parks in the country, including Klyde Warren Park in Dallas, Military Park in Newark, NJ, Levy Park in Houston, TX, Canalside in Buffalo, NY, and the Titletown District park next door to Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI.

“The Transit Center rooftop park is an important amenity for the Transit Center as well as the new downtown neighborhood. We’re looking forward to working with BRV to making the park a beautiful and dynamic urban space for the community,” said TJPA Executive Director Mark Zabaneh.

Dan Biederman was a co-founder of four New York-based urban redevelopment corporations, including The Grand Central Partnership in New York City, one of the largest business improvement districts in the world, and has consulted on urban redevelopment and management projects in major cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Miami, and Pittsburgh. He has worked on public spaces with some of the leading mixed-use developers in the United States, including The Related Companies, The Howard Hughes Corporation, Blackstone, and Jamestown Properties.