RiverArch Pitch Deck: 23-Slide Breakdown

The RiverArch deck presents a vision for what it claims would be the largest building in the world by floor area, spanning the East River in New York City. The project seeks $5 million in 'Stage 0' funding to navigate the initial NYC planning and zoning hurdles. The total development cost is estimated at a staggering $21,594,479,280, with a projected profit of approximately $9.14 billion over a 68-month timeline. The deck is heavy on architectural inspiration and granular financial projections for secondary income streams, such as observation deck fees and even a 'stairwell run.' However, it…

Key takeaways

• The project estimates a total development cost of $21,594,479,280 (Slide 5).
• The building is designed to span the East River, connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn with a footprint of 400,000 square feet (Slide 5).
• The current 'Stage 0' ask is $5 million for 1% equity in RiverArch profit to reach the Pre-Application Statement (PAS) milestone (Slide 8).
• Scott Baker is identified as the Chair, CEO, and Lead Designer, holding 100% stake in RiverArch Ventures (Slide 8).
• Revenue projections include $150 million annually from an observation deck and $575 million in total combined annual income (Slide 6).
• The deck admits the project currently lacks site control and requires a Zoning Text Amendment to build over the river (Slide 7).
• Construction costs are estimated at $600 per square foot, totaling over $15 billion for the direct building costs (Slide 5).
• The proposal includes a 'sunset clause' where investors receive remaining funds if the PAS goal is not achieved within one year (Slide 8).

Frequently asked questions

What is the primary goal of the current funding round?

The project is seeking $5 million in 'Stage 0' funding. The specific objective is to achieve the submission of a Pre-Application Statement (PAS) to the New York City Department of City Planning. This is a preliminary step in the long regulatory process required for a project of this scale, which currently lacks site control and necessary zoning permissions.

How does RiverArch plan to generate revenue?

Revenue is split between the RiverArch Corporation and a Condominium Corporation. Major streams include $150 million from observation deck fees, $144 million from apartment common charges, and smaller niche streams like a $60,000 annual 'RiverArch Run' through the stairwells. The total projected annual income across all entities is $575,816,610.

What are the biggest risks identified in the deck?

The deck explicitly mentions the need for a Zoning Text Amendment, as well as State and Federal permits. Slide 7 notes that legal and community opposition is not included in the timeline but 'may be significant.' Furthermore, the project does not yet have site control, which is a prerequisite for moving past the initial planning stages.

Who is leading the project?

Scott Baker is the central figure, listed as the Chair, CEO, and Lead Designer. He currently holds 100% of the stake in RiverArch Ventures. The deck also mentions Emory Brooks as a board member and notes that the initial team has been formed, though specific bios for other team members are not provided in the reviewed slides.

What is the proposed timeline for the project?

The financial projections are based on a 68-month timeline. The immediate goal is a one-year window to hit the 'Stage 0' milestone (PAS submission). If that goal is not met, a sunset clause is triggered to dissolve the company and return remaining funds to investors.

RiverArch pitch deck: the facts

Company

RiverArch

Slides

23

RiverArch pitch deck PDF

The full RiverArch deck is embedded on this page and can be read slide by slide in the browser — no download or account required. Each slide is covered in the breakdown above.

What the RiverArch (RiverArch Ventures LLC / RiverArch project) pitch deck was used for

This deck is an investor summary / sponsor brief for the **RiverArch** project, a proposed Hudson‑Yards‑scale mixed‑use development that would form a 96‑story arch‑shaped building/bridge spanning the East River between Manhattan’s Lower East Side/Two Bridges area and Brooklyn’s DUMBO/Vinegar Hill neighborhood. It outlines a vision for thousands of residential units, extensive public space, transit elements, and civic amenities built over the river, framed as an iconic addition to New York City’s skyline. In public interviews and the founder’s materials, the project is described as seeking a relatively small seed/venture capital raise (roughly $5 million) to fund permit and advocacy campaigns ahead of an eventual multibillion‑dollar development budget of about $20–22 billion. The project appears to be at a **concept/early planning** stage and is not described in any credible source as having received formal government approvals or committed construction financing.

Founders

Scott Baker

Industry

Real estate development / large-scale mixed‑use urban megaproject

What the RiverArch (RiverArch Ventures LLC / RiverArch project) deck got right

• Highly differentiated, iconic project concept. RiverArch presents a singular, iconic vision: a 96‑story arch‑shaped skyscraper‑bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, integrating housing, public space, and transit in one megastructure, which strongly differentiates it from typical real estate offerings.
• Compelling housing and public‑policy narrative. The materials emphasize large‑scale housing creation, including thousands of market‑rate and affordable units, and claim no displacement of existing tenants or demolition of current buildings or parks, aligning the project with contemporary urban policy goals around housing supply and equity.
• Robust quantitative framing of scale and impact. The deck and related briefs quantify scale and impacts with concrete numbers—apartment counts, square footage of public areas, job creation, tax revenue, and projected investor returns—which gives potential backers a clearer sense of the opportunity’s magnitude.
• Small seed raise leveraged against very large potential project. The initial capital ask (roughly $3.7–5 million) is small relative to the projected $20–22 billion development budget, offering early investors the prospect of significant leverage on a very large project if permits and subsequent financing can be secured.
• Positioning within familiar megaproject and economic‑development narratives. By framing RiverArch as a Hudson‑Yards‑scale opportunity in a "red hot" New York City neighborhood and highlighting potential tax revenue and job creation, the deck situates the project within familiar economic‑development narratives that may resonate with both private and public stakeholders.
• Multi‑dimensional value proposition across housing, transit, and civic amenities. The concept integrates multiple value drivers—housing, public space, transit, energy‑efficient design, and education (e.g., a 900‑seat school)—in a single project, broadening the range of stakeholders (investors, governments, communities) who might see strategic benefits.

What could have been stronger

• No verified committed capital or investor participation. Across the publicly accessible investor briefs and founder materials, there is no evidence of committed institutional investors, signed term sheets, or closed financing rounds; the capital raising appears to be purely aspirational at this stage, which weakens the deck’s ability to demonstrate traction or de‑risking for such a large project.
• Limited third‑party validation of cost and return projections. The deck’s headline development cost of roughly $21–22 billion and projected net profit of around $10–28 billion rely on top‑down pro‑forma assumptions; there is no independent feasibility study, third‑party cost validation, or detailed comparable analysis cited, which is a significant gap for institutional real estate investors evaluating a megaproject of this scale.
• Regulatory and permitting pathway not substantiated. The project requires approvals from a wide array of city, state, and federal agencies overseeing navigable waterways, airspace, building heights, and environmental impacts, yet the materials do not show concrete progress (e.g., letters of intent, preliminary approvals, or formal engagement outcomes) from those authorities. This regulatory uncertainty represents a major execution risk that is under‑substantiated in the deck.
• Unclear community and political support. Although the founder emphasizes that RiverArch would avoid displacement of existing tenants and demolition of buildings, independent community and political reactions are not documented in the deck or supporting materials, leaving investors with little insight into potential opposition, litigation, or public‑process delays for a highly visible and controversial megaproject.
• Incomplete financing and phasing strategy. There is no evidence of a detailed phasing and capital‑stack strategy (e.g., sequencing of equity, debt, public subsidies, and P3 arrangements) matched to milestones; instead, the deck moves from a small seed raise to a very large aspirational budget, making it difficult for investors to understand realistic funding pathways and risk allocation.

How an investor would read this deck

What draws attention

• Vision and scale: a highly differentiated, iconic structure with thousands of apartments, major public space, and integrated transit, positioned as a Hudson‑Yards‑scale opportunity in a prime New York City location.
• Housing and public policy benefits: messaging around adding thousands of units (including affordable housing) without displacing existing tenants or demolishing buildings, plus substantial public amenities and potential tax revenues.
• Economic impact projections: large claimed returns to investors (up to roughly $28 billion), net profits around $10.9 billion, and hundreds of millions in annual tax revenue, if the project can be permitted and built.
• Early‑stage ask vs. ultimate project size: an initial seed/venture raise of about $3.7–5 million to fund permitting and advocacy is small relative to the projected $21–22 billion development cost, which may appeal to high‑risk, early‑stage investors seeking leverage on a very large concept.

Risks that stand out

• Permitting and regulatory risk: the need for approvals from numerous agencies (waterways, airspace, building code, environmental) introduces long timelines and high uncertainty, with no evidence of meaningful progress yet.
• Engineering and construction risk: the novel, 96‑story arched bridge structure spanning a major river presents significant technical challenges; cost overruns or design changes could materially affect returns.
• Financing risk: raising $20+ billion for a highly unconventional, unpermitted project is inherently difficult; absence of anchor investors or public‑sector commitment heightens capital‑formation risk.
• Political and community risk: large skyline‑altering projects often face opposition related to views, neighborhood character, environmental impacts, and equity; RiverArch’s materials do not demonstrate community buy‑in, leaving potential for delays or cancellation.
• Market risk: long development timelines (multi‑year permitting and 3–7 years of construction) expose the project to cycles in NYC real estate demand, interest rates, and construction costs that could undermine pro‑forma returns.

Questions this deck invites

• What legal entity or entities (e.g., RiverArch Ventures LLC and associated SPVs) will own the project, and what are the current capitalization, governance, and rights associated with these entities?
• Which government agencies have been formally engaged to date (city, state, federal, port, aviation, environmental), and what documented feedback, preliminary approvals, or constraints have been received regarding building over the East Rive
• What independent engineering, environmental, and cost studies have been commissioned to validate structural feasibility, lifecycle costs, and construction budgets for a 96‑story arch‑bridge structure with integrated transit over a navigable
• How will the capital stack for the full $20–22 billion program be structured (private equity, debt, public subsidies, infrastructure funds, PPP models), and what are the expected returns and risk allocation at each layer under multiple scen
• What specific market and policy assumptions underlie the revenue projections (apartment absorption, rent levels, affordable housing subsidies, transit revenue, tax incentives), and how do these compare to benchmarks from other large NYC dev

What founders can take from the RiverArch (RiverArch Ventures LLC / RiverArch project) deck

• A highly distinctive, visionary concept (a skyscraper‑bridge over the East River) can generate attention and narrative power, but investors still require detailed, evidenced feasibility, approvals strategy, and financing plans to treat it as an investable opportunity.
• For megaprojects, it is critical to clearly separate a modest initial seed raise (for permitting and advocacy) from the far larger construction budget, and to explain how early capital unlocks subsequent financing stages.
• Credible third‑party validation—engineering reports, cost estimates, regulatory analyses—greatly strengthens large‑scale real estate pitches compared with decks relying mainly on founder projections and conceptual renderings.
• Explicitly addressing displacement, shadowing, and public‑space impacts can be a powerful part of the story, but investors will look for documented community engagement and political pathways, not just assurances.
• Comparisons to existing megaprojects (such as Hudson Yards) help situate scale and potential returns, yet they need to be backed by detailed benchmarking rather than high‑level analogies.
• Megaproject pitch decks benefit from granular phasing, showing how regulatory milestones, infrastructure commitments, and capital formation progress over time, rather than jumping directly from concept to multi‑billion‑dollar outcomes.

RiverArch (RiverArch Ventures LLC / RiverArch project) pitch deck: common questions

What is RiverArch?

RiverArch is a proposed large‑scale mixed‑use development in New York City: a 96‑story arched structure spanning the East River, functioning as part skyscraper, part bridge, and part transit corridor connecting Manhattan’s Two Bridges/Lower East Side area with Brooklyn’s DUMBO/Vinegar Hill. It is designed to include thousands of apartments, extensive public amenities, and transportation elements, positioned as an iconic megaproject on the scale of Hudson Yards.

Who is behind the RiverArch project?

Scott Baker is described as the creator of the RiverArch concept and the "brains and propulsive force" behind the proposal. His LinkedIn profile lists him as Founder/CEO of RiverArch Ventures LLC, which appears to be the entity promoting the RiverArch development opportunity. No independent, third‑party corporate filings or company‑level details beyond this promotional material were located.

What does the RiverArch development include (housing, public space, amenities)?

According to the founder’s LinkedIn summary and investor brief materials, RiverArch aims to develop approximately 7,630–7,250 market‑rate and affordable apartments, with large unit sizes averaging around 2,200 square feet. The project is also described as including roughly 300,000 square feet of new public areas (plazas, parks, esplanades, beach, dog run/playground), a unique bi‑borough public transport system, energy‑neutral or energy‑efficient design with multiple off‑grid energy sources, and a 900‑seat school.

How much would RiverArch cost, and what returns are projected?

Multiple sources describe overall project development costs in the $20–22 billion range, with one investor brief citing construction costs totaling approximately $21.8 billion and another investor summary mentioning about $21.6 billion. The same materials project a net profit of about $10.9 billion or a return to investors of roughly $28 billion, along with substantial tax revenues and thousands of construction and permanent jobs, but these figures are pro‑forma projections rather than realized outcomes.

Has RiverArch raised funding yet, and how much capital is it seeking?

Public materials and interviews describe RiverArch as seeking around $3.7–5 million in initial seed or venture capital to fund start‑up costs, including permit campaigns and preparatory work, while emphasizing that the much larger construction financing would be raised later once approvals and support are secured. However, no credible press reports, government filings, or investor announcements confirm that this seed round (or any subsequent financing) has closed, nor are any institutional investors publicly associated with the project.

Sources

Funding and outcome facts on this page were researched on 2026-08-22 from the pages below.

• RiverArch investor brief
• RiverArch Investor Summary - Sponsor.pdf
• The BroadsheetDAILY ~ News of Lower Manhattan ~ 12/9/19 - The Broadsheet
• RIVERARCH SKYSCRAPER BRIDGE - NYC URBANISM
• Proposed $15b residential, commercial, and public space RiverArch...
• Riverarch Equity Partners: Leading Private Equity Firm
• Our history
• Scott Baker | LinkedIn

RiverArch pitch deck slides

What each slide of the RiverArch pitch deck says

Slide 2

The RiverArch: Rendering from north, above building The RiverArch will be beautiful and iconic, contextual within the building-bridge environment as it will be by the time the building is built; not shown are the four expected residential towers of the Large Scale Real Estate Development (LSRD) on Manhattan's Lower East Side, within 6 blocks of the RiverArch. Brooklyn too, will have several tall and supertall buildings nearby by the projected completion time (est. 2026). Due to a lucky bend in the East River, most shadows will fall on the river, not the land where people live, with some falling on the remaining Brooklyn Con Edison Farragut substation. The 2-copter heliport in the top foregr…

Slide 3

The RiverArch: Rendering from south river level The RiverArch will form a new gateway to the city, at once both welcoming and impressive, befitting America’s premier city. It will serve as a modern companion to the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, both built over 100 years ago, while not overwhelming them. — Ler | — —— ne ;

Slide 4

IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEMS e Too Little, or Unaffordable Housing e Too Much Displacement & Gentrification e Too Little Public Space e Too few Transportation Options e Too Vulnerable to Flooding & Sea Level Rise eo Too Dependent on Unreliable Grid & Fossil Fuels e Too Few Good Public Schools e Too Few Supportive Services e¢ Too Few Flex & Event Spaces eo Too Few Diverse Retail & Exhibit Options e Too Little Outdoor Space RIVER/-\RCH

Slide 5

Fi TAF = C2300 Sewal Market Rate Apartments Affordable Apartments Eee 2310008 855 5 —300,000sf Construction Jobs Parks, Plazas, and a Beach 2,000 5,000,000/Year Permanent Jobs Public Elevator River-Crossing Capacity 62% 6,000 sf (2) Energy Self-Sufficient Public Observation Decks 100 1,024’ W X 20’ H (2) SEDI Energy Efficiency Score (perfect) Seawalls — DFE Compliant 900 85,000 sf Student High School Event Space 350 928,000 sf / 52 Store Seat Restaurant Retail Space 420,000 sf 0 Gymnasium Residents Displaced (Manufacturing Zoned) 24 91% Mass Transit stops within 10 blocks, Apartments with Terraces or Courtyard Access including 1 potential direct access ‘F’ train station in Rutgers Street Tu…

Slide text above is read directly from the RiverArch deck PDF embedded on this page.

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