PROJECT PORTFOLIO
The Peninsula, Hunts Point Bronx
The Peninsula—a collaboration between Gilbane Development Company, Hudson Companies and MHANY Management Inc.—was selected by the New York City Economic Development Corporation to transform the former Spofford Juvenile Detention Center site into a new mixed-use residential, retail, and light food manufacturing development that will include 34,000 square feet of light industrial space. While working as a Senior Consultant with Karen Karp & Partners, I worked with The Peninsula team to help this building become one of the premier food production spaces in NYC, on par with the Pfizer Building and Industry City in Brooklyn. In collaboration with Hugh Boyd Architects and Clevenger Frable LaVallee, I helped refine Building 1A’s space program and specifications. Recommendations were made on the size, layout, and infrastructural requirements for food manufacturing and retail spaces in Building 1A, based on market norms, production needs, and gaps in the city’s existing inventory. I also provided technical assistance for several prospective Building 1A tenants, developing business plans and financial projections, determining funding requirements and sources, and assisting with required regulatory processes. I continued to work with Building 1A in 2020 and 2021 as an independent consultant, as the project approached its expected completion date of early 2022, leading outreach efforts into the New York City food production sector to identify, vet, and recruit potential tenants for Building 1A as it seeks to lease 34,000 square feet of food and media production space.
Talbott & Arding Cheese and Provisions, Hudson NY
Talbott & Arding Cheese and Provisions opened its doors in December 2014 and since then, owner-operators Mona Talbott and Kate Arding have built their store into a Hudson Valley culinary destination and matured from a startup business into an established, market-savvy operation. I began working with Talbott & Arding in 2018 as it laid plans to grow the business with an expansion of their packaged foods line and then with development of a larger retail space in Hudson. I worked closely with Talbott & Arding to develop a comprehensive, detailed, and elegant business plan to meet two critical goals: first, to thoroughly understand the opportunities and risks associated with their growth plans, and second, to convey that understanding to prospective investors and secure the capital needed to execute their expansion goals. The development of this business plan was a collaborative, iterative and research-intensive process that took several paths as the team learned about the co-packing and CPG foods sector, built a model for retail expansion, and faced a radically altered food business landscape during the COVID pandemic. Talbott & Arding’s newly built, 8000-square-foot space opened in June 2021. Since the summer of 2020, I’ve also continued to work with Talbott & Arding as an end-to-end food sector recruiter and have worked to place positions ranging from Pastry Chef to Director of Retail Operations with the company. With these hires in place and the pandemic (mostly) in the rearview mirror, Talbott & Arding is prepared for several exciting years of growth in their greatly expanded destination store.
Kingston Food Co-op, Kingston NY
The Kingston Food Co-op project is an ambitious effort to open a highly values-driven food co-operative in Kingston, NY. This co-operative will be unique in the way that it blends standard food co-operative grocery services with an especially strong community-focused programming element. I started working with the Co-op’s Council in the winter of 2020 to start developing a business road-map with them that included a market analysis (supported by quantitative analysis from food co-operative experts at G2G Research Group), food landscape analysis, financial projections, budget forecasts, operational planning, layout advisement, pricing strategy, and timeline estimates. This work culminated in the fall of 2021 with several presentations to the Council, adjustments to financial and budget forecasts as information evolved, and a final hand-off of the business road-map to a team that now had a much firmer grasp of the road ahead.