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With final regulatory approval, construction of Meatpacking District park is expected to begin this summer

The site of the future 2.7-acre Hudson River park funded by Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg has cleared its final regulatory hurdle, the Hudson River Park Trust announced Wednesday.

Construction of Pier55, as the park-on-a-pier will be known, is now expected to begin this summer, the trust said.

The park will include grassy hills, an open-air stage and a separate area that can be used for large events, all constructed on pilings in the Hudson River. Plans for the park were first announced in 2014, and since then have received several approvals and beaten back a lawsuit. On Wednesday, the trust said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave the final thumbs-up needed to begin building.

"We are excited to be in a position to start construction,” Madelyn Wils, chief executive of the trust, said in a statement.

The project is being built through a partnership between the trust and a nonprofit created by Diller and von Furstenburg, who have contributed $113 million to fund most of the park’s construction.

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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...TATE/160429880