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WE ARE CONVERTING
A FORMER 1907
COAL BURNING POWER PLANT
TO BURN CLEAN
THE PLANT
DEVELOPMENT DONE DIFFERENT
This abandoned coal-burning powerplant will be transformed from a symbol of the industrial revolution that has led to today’s problems to a monument of collaboration and innovation toward an abundant, regenerative future that will fuel today’s clean economy.
From Coal to Clean
Once used to burn coal to electrify Grand Central Terminal, The Plant will, one day soon, become the epicenter of a positive global transformation – to combat the climate crisis and its ripple effect on the planet.
The Plant represents the first 100 years of industrialization. Built in 1907, The Plant housed cutting edge technologies and served as a symbol of American innovation, engineering, and architectural achievement. Yet, it is also a symbol of an era of resource extraction, combustion, and pollution – a paradigm we must abandon if we are to preserve the planet for future generations.
A century after its creation, The Plant now stands at a crossroad in its history, on the verge of collapse. For the next 100 years, The Plant will become a global home for those working to solve humanity’s most pressing problem – climate change.
Climate change is the number one existential threat facing humanity. It’s time to meet the challenge of repairing the vandalization wrought by the industrial revolution and the 20th century.
STORY PHOTOS
ACCELERATE THE GREEN TRANSITION
IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
The Real Estate Industry is the biggest contributor to the Climate Crisis accounting for approximately 40% of global CO2 emissions thru the life cycle of buildings- from design, materials manufacturing, construction, usage and demolition and 25% of overall greenhouse-gas emissions. The Plant will be the first of its kind and scale to be a 100% Net Zero Building in a uniquely symbolic story - from Coal to Clean. This includes both operational carbon, which is the carbon load created using energy to heat and power a building, as well as embodied carbon, which is the carbon that is released in the manufacturing, production, and transportation of our building materials.
The Plant will serve as a convener and create forums to navigate and align decarbonization levers and new technologies in the built environment eco-system that currently lacks collaboration. The Plant plans to create a Green Building playbook to help move this effort forward as we plan to be Zero E/Carbon for both embodied and operational carbon, achieving all the goals set by The NYS Climate Act at opening.
LEADING THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY IN
DECARBONIZING THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
We are driven by the values of inclusion, innovation, sustainability and connectivity, collaboratively working with leading sustainable design architects and engineers, clean tech experts, government and thought leaders to deliver a home for climate solutions in the built environment. We are working to combat the causes of our rapidly changing climate and to attain environmental justice. The Plant’s global ambitions are rooted in the simplicity of the interconnectedness of us all and the need for climate solutions in real estate on every continent and within every urban metropolis.
A SOLUTION AND PARTNER OF THE NY
CLIMATE AND COMMUNITY PROTECTION ACT
The Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act) puts New York on a path to reaching net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through ambitious new goals that will require innovation in the ways that New Yorkers travel, heat their homes, and use electricity. The Plant will be at the forefront of these innovations, paving the way for the transition to net zero buildings for the State of New York. Not only will our buildings showcase the most advanced proptech and climate tech innovations in building decarbonization, but we will also nurture the entrepreneurs and startups at the frontlines through our The Plant Ventures lab and studio.
THE PLANT VENTURES
FOR THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
The Plant Startup Studios and Venture Labs connects our eco-system partners including corporates, government, subject matter experts, thought leaders and start-ups to collaborate via crowd-sourcing R&D solutions, accelerating commercialization of technologies, supporting and incubating innovation, financial support, investor panels, events demo and deal days.
The Story
of The Plant
The Plant was built in 1907 and stands on 6000 piles over the Hudson River with unparalleled views of the New York City skyline and the Palisades. It is one of the only remaining power plants constructed for the electrification of the Grand Central Railroad and has been abandoned since the 1970s. In 2013, Lela Goren bought the Yonkers Power Plant, ending 75 years of disuse and neglect. Today, a new chapter is being written.
The Plant is composed of three interconnected buildings. The Rotary Building will provide offices, micro kitchens, meeting lounges and double-height gathering space in the historic rotary room. The Turbine Hall becomes an event space hosting exhibitions, conferences and performances. The Smokestack provides cafe, exhibition, meeting and office spaces within the structure that once stored and burned coal.
Revitalized as The Plant, this historic building will be reimagined as a co-working, incubator, maker space, and grand convening space, for events, workshops, public art and gatherings that engage entrepreneurs, innovators, scientists, artists, youth and governments engaged with climate solutions.
“The Plant and its architectural interventions are in the spirit of the raw creative power of the historic power plant. Human power and innovation will replace coal power to secure our existence for the next 100 years.”
Bjarke Ingels, BIG Architects
HISTORY
The Glenwood Power Plant (also known as the Yonkers Power Plant) in Yonkers, built between 1904 and 1906, is one of two power stations constructed for the electrification of the New York Central Railroad from Grand Central Terminal to the northern suburbs of New York City. As an integral part of the monumental civic vision of Grand Central Terminal—which included electrification of the line, construction of the new terminal building, the re-establishment of Park Avenue and the cross streets by depressing the tracks below street level, and the development of an entire district of new real estate—the Glenwood Power Plant is of significant historical value.
The Power Station was designed by the architecture firm of Charles Reed & Alan Stem who, in association with the firm Warren & Wetmore, also designed Grand Central Terminal. Specialists in the design of railroad buildings, Reed & Stem designed both the Glenwood and the Port Morris Power Stations, the associated substations and various local stations on the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad lines.
The Glenwood Power Plant is an outstanding example of early 20th-century engineering and is the last remaining and intact power station constructed for the electrification of the Grand Central railroad. Its monumental scale and Romanesque-Revival style architecture are fine examples of the industrial architecture of the period. The New York Central Railroad owned and operated the power station between 1907-1936, when it served the sole function of powering the railroad.
