In an attempt to determine how best to design and build on the City’s waterfront areas exposed to future storms, a competition was announced by the City, together with a team of developers, in April 2013 to cultivate design development ideas for an 80 acre site in the Rockaways. In response, 117 design teams from around the globe submitted credentials and design ideas. On July 18th, four semi-finalist teams were announced including Ennead Architects (formerly Poshek Partners) of New York, Lateral Office of Toronto, Seeding Office of London, and White Arkitekler of London.