About the MASterworks Awards

Harco Construction, LLC is a New York City construction and real estate development company that has vast experience in the building and renovation of high-rises and other large commercial buildings. One of Harco Construction, LLC’s recent renovation projects, Empire Stores, received several major awards including a 2018 Best Adaptive Reuse MASterworks Award from the Municipal Arts Society of New York.

A nonprofit advocacy organization, the Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) has been protecting legacy spaces and furthering thoughtful urban planning/design for 125 years. Like all MAS awards and medals, the MASterworks Awards promote the best in “art, architecture, and activism” that enhances daily living in New York City.

Each year, a carefully selected MAS jury bestows MASterworks Awards on structures that improve and elevate New York City’s built environment. In addition to Empire Stores, past MASterworks Award-winners include the Fulton Center and Domino Park. MASterworks Award categories include Best Urban Landscape, which honors new or revitalized open areas that increase city livability and resilience, and Best New Infrastructure, which honors public service projects with unique and innovative design qualities.

Waterfront Empire Stores Combines Historic with Modern

From initial evaluation to the final stages of construction, Harco Construction provides comprehensive building services for residential, office, retail, and hotel projects. Recently, Harco Construction earned professional accolades for Empire Stores, a set of Civil War-era warehouses in Brooklyn, New York, that earned the 2018 Best Adaptive Reuse MASterworks Award from the Municipal Arts Society of New York.

Located on New York’s Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass (DUMBO) waterfront, Empire Stores occupies a previously abandoned, 19th century warehouse. The mixed-use, adaptive-use project involved creating a pedestrian path connecting Water Street with Brooklyn Bridge Park, in addition to partnering with the park in the construction of a 7,000-square-foot terrace on the building’s fifth floor.

To preserve the building’s historic significance, the project maintained its masonry façade and monumental footprint on the waterfront, while transforming it into a modern community hub with 380,000 square feet of office space. To further modernize the building, Empire Stores implements energy-saving measures such as a green roof and a closed-loop water source heat pump.

The Digitally Enhanced Renaissance New York Midtown Hotel

Harco Construction, LLC, is a full service development firm located in New York City. The company is capable of assisting clients with all pre-construction phases and continues providing support throughout all stages of the building process. Notable Harco Construction, LLC, projects include the Marriott Renaissance flagship location in New York’s garment district.

Completed in spring 2016, the Renaissance New York Midtown Hotel holds the distinction as being the first “digitally enhanced” hotel in the city, according to Marriott International. The new Marriott location draws on an array of technological advances to optimize guest stays and further the Renaissance mission of facilitating unique cultural experiences for business travelers.

Digital enhancements at the hotel begin before guests enter the lobby, as a block-spanning digital wall showcases local activities and artists. The first floor also features custom Navigator Table technology, which streamlines the process of finding nearby destinations and experiences, and a virtual concierge. The hotel’s design, meanwhile, sources inspiration from all corners of the city, from the vibrant arts and music scenes to New York’s iconic place in the world of fashion.

The Renaissance New York Midtown Hotel by Marriott International has 348 guest rooms as well as a lobby bar and a club lounge. The hotel features 4,500 square feet of meeting space as well as Manhattan’s largest outdoor terrace, which features a retractable roof.

The Award-Winning Empire Stores

A property development firm that handles large commercial construction and renovation projects in New York City, Harco Construction, LLC, gained widespread acclaim for its repurposing of several Civil War-era warehouses in Brooklyn’s DUMBO (down under the Manhattan Bridge overpass) neighborhood. Harco Construction, LLC, transformed these warehouses into an expansive, mixed-use complex that includes 380,000 square feet of office space, 70,277 square feet of retail space, a gallery of the Brooklyn Historical Society, several restaurants, and a beer garden.

In 2019, Empire Stores received both an American Institute of Architects New York Design Award and an Urban Land Institute Global Award for Excellence. It also won a 2018 Best Adaptive Reuse MASterworks Award from the Municipal Arts Society of New York in recognition of its deft handing of a historical set of structures that have been a New York waterfront landmark for over a century. The innovative Brooklyn landscape design firm Future Green Studio praises the Empire Stores project for establishing a “21st century creative community hub” within a “monumental…19th century industrial shell.”

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