NEW YORK CITY-Not all of New York City's troubles started with Sept. 11. At a formal presentation yesterday, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. unveiled the next puzzle piece in its ongoing rollout of Downtown redevelopment studies. This latest proposal focuses on the stretch of acreage bordered by Ground Zero, Battery Park, Broadway and West Street.

And while most of the talk of Downtown revitalization focuses on issues created by Sept. 11, this newest study, conducted by a team lead by the architectural firm of H3 Hardy Collaboration, tackles such decades-old problems as re-use of land around the Battery Tunnel access routes and increasing vehicle and pedestrian traffic on long-closed street grids.

According to H3 founder Hugh Hardy, the study's prime goal is to foster the 24-hour environment long sought for Downtown. But the biggest challenge to that goal is the creation of retail spaces.

"How do you plan for retail?" asked Michael M. Samuelian of New York City's Department of Planning. Characterizing it as an "organic" need, he emphasized that a critical mass of residences is needed first. While the city might entice retailers by relaxing certain zoning regulations, such as signage restrictions, beyond that, its hands were tied. That's especially true of fiscal concerns. "Retail should not be subsidized," he stated.

But the good news is that the plan accounts for some 2.7 million sf of residential development—in both new development and conversions--which Hardy estimated will yield 2,000 units and deliver that critical mass.

The proposal also relies on that residential component to pay for some $125 million in infrastructure improvements in what Hardy termed "a wash." Those improvements would encompass east/west and north/south street extensions, depression of the Battery Tunnel access routes and the creation of the country's first automated parking structure dedicated to bus traffic.

But much "conversation" has to take place before the study evolves into a project. LMDC SVP Stefan Pryor commented that the next few months will be taken up with consultations with community boards, city planning commissions and the MTA, which has to buy into the funding and feasibility of the bus and tunnel proposals. Once a final project plan is approved and ready for shovels, Pryor said completion will take "four to five years."

In coming weeks, the LMDC will continue to roll out its neighborhood-by-neighborhood studies. A Chinatown proposal is due out before the end of the month.