Pier 17 is a 300,000-sf, four-story mixed-use destination at the South Street Seaport, featuring restaurants, retail, office space, a rooftop performance venue, and broadcast studios on a rebuilt pier over the East River. As the building’s electrical backbone aged—and following prior gear failures—the owner needed a safer, more resilient solution that could support heavy loads, improve redundancy, and keep this high-profile waterfront campus open to the public.

Delivered as a design–build program, ELECSYS served as electrical engineer-of-record for a comprehensive high-tension gear and switchgear replacement. The project replaced three existing Con Edison 13.2 kV high-tension boards and associated transformers with three new medium-voltage boards, 2 MVA unit substations, a new 480 V paralleling switchgear lineup, a 125 VDC station battery system, and a fourth high-tension feeder to improve redundancy.

ELECSYS developed design drawings and specifications; performed short-circuit, coordination, load-flow, motor-starting, and arc-flash studies; prepared relay settings and point-to-point wiring diagrams; and supported factory testing, commissioning, and training.

Because Pier 17 is a pier structure fed by multiple high-tension services, logistics and phasing were critical. ELECSYS coordinated closely with the construction manager, contractor, and Con Edison to sequence cutovers, minimize downtime for tenants, and route new feeders through constrained spaces and existing infrastructure. The team also supported approvals with NYC DOB and NYC DEP, and helped evaluate options to enhance long-term resiliency and maintainability.

With the upgrades complete in 2024, Pier 17 gained a modern power backbone designed to better protect occupants, support daily operations, and position the Seaport for decades of safe, reliable service.