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The Design Trust for Public Space and the Council of Fashion Designers of America have unveiled a new initiative, Making Midtown, designed to boost fashion design and manufacturing and steer development in New York’s Garment District, reported WWD.

As Manhattan’s real estate space grows ever tighter, concerns have been raised about whether the area will be able to succeed as a fashion hub in the long-term.

The three-pronged effort, “Making Midtown: Sustaining Design and Production in an Evolving Garment Center,” has been established with the goal of delivering formal proposals to city officials and other stakeholders early 2012.

“We’re really pushing for concrete proposals that will be really different than what has been proposed before. There is nothing hindering us from getting a solution,” CFDA representative Joerg Schwartz said to WWD. “This is just something that needs more in-depth analysis.”

Toward that end, the DTPS and the CFDA have partnered with real estate consulting and architectural firm HR&A to examine the Garment District’s dynamics, zoning, building stock and public realm. Jerome Chou, the DTPS’ director of programs, did not comment on the financial commitment needed for the project, but did note that foundations, including the National Endowment for the Arts and the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, have donated funds and that individual donors were being solicited.

“Hopefully, we can come up with a vision that can be replicated in all urban areas throughout the world, where industry can not only reside, but also thrive in cities along with developments in real estate,” Yeohlee Teng, a key player in the review process, said.

The two groups intend to conduct “transparent and accessible” workshops this fall, open to anyone who desires to contribute an idea or gain an understanding of the district’s workings.

“We’re acknowledging the district is changing and we need to be ahead of that change,” Chou said.

However, progress on the project has been sluggish thus far.

“Right now things are rather at a standstill. It’s static,” Teng said. “Coming up with a plan to revitalize the district and to revive manufacturing still remains to be accomplished. It’s not a given, but it’s a goal.”

Tagged in: cfda, council of fashion designers of america, garment district, dtps, making midtown, initiative, the design trust for public space,