Wings Point signed a 50-year lease on the building and planned to spend $20 million on rehabilitation. The next year, the New York state government gave the city government $4 million for the project. Robert Silman & Associates was hired as the structural engineer for the renovation, while Beyer Blinder Belle was the renovation architect. The FDNY relocated John D. McKean from Pier A at the end of 1991. To facilitate Pier A's redevelopment, in mid-1991, U.S. representative Ted Weiss proposed that the waters around Pier A be declared non-navigable. Because the federal government could easily condemn a structure in navigable waters, it was difficult to obtain financing for such structures, including Pier A. Simultaneously, the city was planning to construct Hudson River Park along the riverfront, connecting Pier A with the new Battery Park City neighborhood.
