Food Store Case Study

Whole Foods Market

Brooklyn, NY

Whole Foods Market is North America’s leading retailer of natural and organic foods. CM&B completed the ground-up construction of Brooklyn, NY’s first Whole Foods Market, working with the Whole Foods team to create a store that looked like it had been a part of the Gowanus neighborhood for years. The 56,000-SF store sits on 4 acres of completely remediated soil along the banks of the Gowanus Canal, on what is classified as a Brownfield site. The building of the Brooklyn store redeveloped a contaminated site and turned it into a beautiful, clean and useful space for the community to enjoy.

Project Highlights:

  • A 246-space parking area that includes a 1000-foot promenade along the banks of the Gowanus that acts as a bio-filtration system.
  • 19 individual solar-/wind-powered site parking lights and 6 parking lot solar canopies that generate power to reduce the store’s carbon footprint.
  • An onsite water management system captures rainwater and grey water and collects it in three 15,000-gallon tanks under the parking lot. The water is sent to a water purification system for cleaning and recycling for non-potable uses such as irrigation and restroom fixtures.
  • A 20,000-SF rooftop greenhouse uses hydroponic technology to harvest fresh produce for the store year-round.
  • The building’s heating and cooling systems are integrated in a cogeneration plant that includes a backup generator, heat reclaim systems and chillers that provide heating, cooling and hot water to the store. The building is the first CFC-free refrigerant supermarket in New York City.
  • The store’s brick façade is constructed of 250,000 reclaimed bricks from the former Westinghouse building in Newark, New Jersey. Millwork finishes throughout the store are comprised of reclaimed tropical hardwood (ipe) from the Coney Island Boardwalk destroyed during Superstorm Sandy.
  • “The Roof,” the store’s second-level restaurant/bar, provides native food menus, local micro-beers on tap and a heated rooftop beer garden with views of the Manhattan skyline.

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