The Related Cos. have submitted a revised proposal for the redevelopment of Pier 40 on the Hudson River.

In a letter January 7 to Noreen Doyle of the Hudson River Trust, Jeff Blau, the president of Related, wrote that Related has "significantly increased the size of the current sports fields, as well as the supporting amenities by 58 percent, with a comparable decrease of retail and restaurant uses," adding that "There is an increase to existing soccer/baseball fields, and an additional 85,000 square feet of basketball courts as requested by the community - representing 2 acres of completely new sports fields and court space over current usage."

"In addition, there will be an expanded, broad, inviting open-air promenade, outdoor markets and a great new dog run," the letter continued, noting that the proposal, "responding to community concerns regarding nighttime activity and alcohol-focused venues," has now eliminated a night club and a private beach club and that "the current plan reflects an 18 percent reduction in size of the Cirque du Soleil program, a 57 % reduction in restaurants and a 21 % reduction in retail space."

"A great indoor/outdoor sustainably produced food market," its submission stated, "will provide an attractive new local amenity - New York City is not home to a significant local and organic market, with permanent seasonal produce, regionally sourced farm products, cheese-mongers, purveyors and butchers - in the tradition of London's Borough Hall Market and San Francisco's Ferry Building Market."

The new Related proposal will have 544,950 square feet of public space as compared to 425,030 in its November, 2006 proposal. It will increase community interior use space from 16,650 square feet to 73,550 and the number of parking spaces from 1,858 to 2,286. It will also reduce the restaurant square footage from 57,760 to 36,850.

The 15-acre pier was built in 1964 for the Holland American Line and Related's new submission notes that "Today, it presents the waterfront and the Hudson River Park with four 800' facades that act as barriers to the waterfront and inhibit the mission of the Park itself - to engage the river."

"We have advised the Trust and the community, we are prepared to reduce the scale of activities further by replacing the Music Hall, eliminating an 1,800-seat night-time live theater venue, to be replaced by an appropriate non-profit primarily day-time usage, such as a museum that would be compatible and complement the family and youth activities that go on during the day on the sports fields."

Another proposal, known as the People's Pier, by Urban Cove and CampGroup Inc., would build a high school, three swimming pools and additional space for parks and athletic fields at an estimated cost of about $145 million. The People's Pier proposal has a construction budget of about $160 million including $31 million for infrastructure, pile and substructure work and it requires no public subsidies.

A third proposal has been made by the Pier 40 Partnership. The Pier 40 Partnership plan calls the creation of a non-profit conservancy for the pier that would pay the trust an annual rent of $5 million. The plan would visually open the pier along West Street, widen a walkway around the pier, create a "Green Room" at its southwest corner for events that would contribute about $2 million annually, increase the number of parking spaces on the pier from 2,150 to 2,800, and create a 100,000-square-foot educational component and a 238,000-square-foot Visual Arts Market.

The Hudson River Park Trust maintains it must develop the pier to create revenue for the upkeep of the five-mile park, which was chartered in 1998 and is still under construction.

On January 16, a Community Board 2 committee recommended that the Hudson River Park Trust board vote down both Related's proposal and the Camp Group plan and the board is expected to make a decision by the end of this month.