NEW YORK | The Spiral (509 W. 34th) | 1,041 FT | 66 FLOORS

[NYguy]

They're understaffed, and being overloaded by this crazy construction boom overtaking the city. Someone decided to find a way to slow things down.

The city’s Department of Buildings is clamping down on proposed office buildings that feature outdoor space, in a campaign that has already delayed dozens of projects.

...According to Slattery, some property owners who have already had their terrace plans approved by the DOB have now been told the approval could be withdrawn.

The City needs to reign in the DOB. It not only hurts the developers, but it hurts the City as well when these developments can't move forward. It goes beyond just delaying a project.

[NYguy]

A terrace at the Coach tower. Why would the city be so against this?


https://www.instagram.com/p/BWkh8r7A...-by=chrystnfab

[chris08876]

If they can't keep up, might be time to hire more employees. Often, the laggard in the equation is bureaucracy of some form. Between the environmental studies, zoning requirements, and various approvals... government is a big time stealer. Really fudges development timetables; not to mention money. Add the land costs as well, and people wonder why new developments are so much. And it seems to get worse every year (besides land costs rising, many more soft cost factors increase as well).

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/2017/07/28/r...top-city-says/

Relax, you can still hang out on your building’s rooftop, city says
DOB reverses a recent crackdown on the use of rooftop space

July 28, 2017
Eddie Small

City officials sent a bulletin to building owners on Friday saying they will chill out on a recent crackdown over the use of rooftop space.

The Department of Buildings had started scrutinizing these spaces over the past few weeks, telling building owners and developers that any floor space used by tenants had to be enclosed, according to Crain’s. This appeared to prohibit landlords and developers from using and creating amenities like roof decks that have become a huge draw for tenants — and a reason to raise rents.

However, city officials will now interpret the building code to mean that outdoor space with the capacity to hold 74 or more people is fine, provided the certificate of occupancy for the building is amended and people can safely exit the space. Paperwork is unnecessary if the rooftop spaces are smaller.

Real Estate Board of New York president John Banks had a muted reaction to the decision, saying in a statement to Crain’s that the industry is “reviewing the guidelines, and we may have comments or improvements to share moving forward.”

[NYguy]

JULY 30, 2017






I like that there are smaller scale developments going up in the neighborhood. With so many large towers going up, it helps to keep that sense of scale.

[NYguy]

Finally getting to the air rights transfer...


http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/..._tech_memo.pdf

[NYguy]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKBN1AP2HF

Morgan Stanley searches for new Manhattan HQ, may favor Hudson Yards

Herbert Lash and Olivia Oran
August 9, 2017

Morgan Stanley (MS.N) is looking around Manhattan for a possible new global headquarters and may be leaning toward the hot Hudson Yards district, as the amount of space the bank is asking brokers to seek out is constraining its options.

The bank issued a request for proposal for 1.9 million square feet, said one source. The request's size essentially limits the company's choices to new construction and leaves few places outside of Hudson Yards capable of meeting the request.

The space requested equals the combined 1.335 million square feet that Morgan Stanley occupies in its current global headquarters at 1585 Broadway in Midtown and the 564,900 square feet at its investment management headquarters at 522 Fifth Avenue.

Morgan Stanley is under no pressure to move as it owns both buildings. Staying and renovating its New York headquarters is an option also actively under consideration, according to a second source with knowledge of the bank's thinking.

The bank, which declined to comment for this story, has ruled out a move to downtown Manhattan, the second source said.

Highly visible companies such as KKR (KKR.N), BlackRock (BLK.N), Time Warner (TWX.N) and others are leaving Midtown for Hudson Yards, a vast privately funded development rising over the Penn Station rail tracks near the Hudson River that has been led by Related Cos.

Driving the projects at Hudson Yards are demographics and office design as companies aim to capture an urban workforce, said Jesse Keenan, a professor at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design.

Morgan Stanley, like other companies seeking the open floor plans and higher ceilings typical of the new 60-story towers, needs flexible work teams and spaces that can adapt to changing markets over the course of a building's useful life, he said.

Morgan Stanley may only seek a little more 1 million square feet, the first source said.

One potential option in Hudson Yards is a 65-story tower with 2.85 million square feet and open-air terraces designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels whose plans were announced by developer Tishman Speyer early last year, the second source said.

Another close-by possibility is Brookfield Property Partners' Manhattan West project, both sources said.

Brookfield and Tishman declined to comment.

[NYguy]

Final approval granted for the transfer of development rights.

[NYguy]

Rare good news for both the Hudson Yards and Midtown East...


http://nypost.com/2017/08/25/pfizer-...far-west-side/

Pfizer set to move into The Spiral on far West Side

By Steve Cuozzo
August 25, 2017

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has chosen Tishman Speyer’s dramatic new office skyscraper The Spiral for its new headquarters, The Post has learned.

Although it wasn’t clear whether a lease has yet been signed, Pfizer has definitively made up its mind on the planned Hudson Yards-area cloudbuster, where it will take about 800,000 square feet, sources familiar with the situation said late Thursday.

The 65-story, 2.85-million rentable square-foot Spiral is designed by Danish starchitect Bjarke Ingels. To rise west of 10th Avenue at 509 W. 34th St., the $3.2 billion, 1005-foot-tall tower takes its name from stepped, tree-filled terraces on all four sides that curl upwards around its façade like a necklace.

Pfizer’s decision marks an another giant leap forward for the Hudson Yards District, an official west of Ninth Avenue city zoning designation that includes both the 26-acre Hudson Yards complex owned by Related Cos. and several different partners and Brookfield Property Partner’s 7-acre Manhattan West.

The district also includes two development sites whose owners need an anchor tenant to break ground — The Spiral and Joseph Moinian’s 3 Hudson Boulevard at 11th Avenue and 34th Street.

Once completed, the lease with Pfizer will allow Tishman Speyer to get The Spiral out of the ground, sources said. Pfizer had also considered the Related and Brookfield sites among other options.

Earlier this year, Pfizer hired Cushman & Wakefield to market its current East 42nd Street headquarters. Pfizer held off on committing to The Spiral until East Midtown Zoning was passed two weeks ago, sources said. That decision allows a much larger building to go up at the 42nd Street location and thus makes Pfizer’s old property much more valuable.

Pfizer’s move will mark the latest major corporate relocation out of East Midtown. Others that have moved to — or soon will move to — the Hudson Yards District include Coach Inc., Time Warner, BlackRock, Skadden Arps, the National Hockey League, Accenture, Steve Cohen’s Point 72 and the Schiller, Boies law firm.

The Pfizer deal will also join the battle for tenants between The Spiral and Related’s 50 Hudson Yards just south of it across the street. Related’s tower, roughly as big as Tishman Speyer’s, signed BlackRock as its anchor tenant earlier this year for 847,000 square feet.

Tishman Speyer, led by CEO Rob Speyer, paid $438 million for the Spiral site in 2014. It later bought additional air rights from the Imperatore family and from the city and state for a total of $108 million.

In April, Tishman Speyer announced a partnership with China’s HNA Property Group for both The Spiral and the Macy’s department store development site in downtown Brooklyn.

[Crawford]

Very good news. This means the Spiral will rise immediately, and the old Pfizer site will be redeveloped with a huge office tower. Probably two supertalls coming to Midtown.

Now where do Chase and Morgan Stanley go? Both had been rumored to anchor The Sprial. Maybe Chase goes to the Pfizer site, which is close to its existing HQ? Maybe Morgan Stanely goes to the old Coach site in Hudson Yards, now owned by Related, or to the Moinian site, or to the Western Railyards? Is 2 WTC an option?

[Eidolon]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Now where do Chase and Morgan Stanley go? Both had been rumored to anchor The Sprial. Maybe Chase goes to the Pfizer site, which is close to its existing HQ? Maybe Morgan Stanely goes to the old Coach site in Hudson Yards, now owned by Related, or to the Moinian site, or to the Western Railyards? Is 2 WTC an option?

Hopefully one of them takes 15 Penn Plaza, but I wouldn't mind if one of them decides to anchor 3 Hudson BLVD. The Western Yards, 335 Madison, 183 Broadway and the Pfizer site are still years off from anything besides site prep and it would be nice if the towers that predate the great recession could get filled up first. 2 WTC seems to have terrible luck for some reason that eludes me, but even it will go up before the Western Yards or any of the Midtown East towers besides One Vanderbilt. The only unknown unknown is 740 8th avenue. That could happen tomorrow or 5 years from now...

[Prezrezc]

The Pfizer Spiral.

Too easy to say ten times fast; but it plays off the tongue and it's easy on the ear.

Lose the vanity addy, and then we'll be okay.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Now where do Chase and Morgan Stanley go? Both had been rumored to anchor The Sprial. Maybe Chase goes to the Pfizer site, which is close to its existing HQ? Maybe Morgan Stanely goes to the old Coach site in Hudson Yards, now owned by Related, or to the Moinian site, or to the Western Railyards? Is 2 WTC an option?

Blackrock is taking 50 Hudson, and probably has the choice location for a signature tenant...

The world’s leading investment management firm, BlackRock, will locate its corporate headquarters at 50 Hudson Yards, occupying 850,000 square feet across 15 floors.

Originally Posted by Eidolon

Hopefully one of them takes 15 Penn Plaza, but I wouldn't mind if one of them decides to anchor 3 Hudson BLVD. .... 2 WTC seems to have terrible luck for some reason that eludes me, but even it will go up before the Western Yards or any of the Midtown East towers besides One Vanderbilt. The only unknown unknown is 740 8th avenue. That could happen tomorrow or 5 years from now...

Vornado has reportedly been shipping around a new design for 15 Penn, but even that site would have to first close the hotel, and then get about a year's worth of demo before construction could even begin.

Extell is more likely to build residential on it's site ata 740 8th Ave. 2 WTC is Downtown, and though it was as close to 15 Penn as getting a signature tenant, fewer companies are willing to relocate Downtown. But as the towers continue to fill up, there are fewer options for jumbo towers (2 Manhattan West, for example) that are ready to go.

[Crawford]

I don't think Extell will build office at 740 Eighth. For one, they don't build office buildings. The press reports have always indicated they're planning a hotel/condo tower.

[ILNY]

509 West 34th Street (The Spiral) by NyConstructionPhoto, on Flickr

[NYguy]

http://nypost.com/2017/08/28/pfizer-...by-early-2018/

Pfizer hopes to sign lease for new home by early 2018

By Steve Cuozzo
August 28, 2017

Pfizer and Tishman Speyer hope to complete a momentous, 800,000-square-foot lease at the developer’s planned Spiral skyscraper by early 2018, sources told The Post. The signing would pave the way for a summer groundbreaking.

We first reported last Friday that the pharmaceutical giant had chosen the Bjarke Ingels-designed, 2.8 million-square-foot tower at 509 W. 34th St. for its new Manhattan headquarters — capping a search that was one of the city’s most closely watched real estate scenarios.

Its not yet a done deal. Many fine points remain to be worked out. But sources say that if all goes well, Pfizer hopes to move in by the second half of 2022.

The deal would still leave Tishman Speyer with 2 million square feet to rent in the tower, but Pfizer’s anchor-tenant commitment will get the project out of the ground, sources said.

Pfizer also took a good, hard look at other major new projects around town, including Related Companies’ 50 Hudson Yards (across the street from the Spiral) and SL Green’s One Vanderbilt (next to Grand Central Terminal).

It sent the developers a formal request for proposals in April, we’re told. Pfizer plans to sell its East 42nd Street buildings, as has been widely reported.

Pfizer’s mega-move also marks a milestone for the Hudson Yards District west of Eighth Avenue, a former backwater that was rezoned by former Mayor Bloomberg to spur large-scale redevelopment.

The Spiral will be the first new office skyscraper in the area to be put up by a developer other than Related or Brookfield Property Partners (at Manhattan West) on their respective 26- and 7-acre rail-yard sites.

Tishman Speyer bought the land for The Spiral in 2014 from several other owners for $438 million and later snatched up more air rights for an additional $108 million. It announced a partnership in The Spiral with China’s HNA Property Group last April.

Tishman Speyer owns more than 165 million square feet of commercial space around the world, including 23 million square feet in New York, where its holdings include Rockefeller Center, the Chrysler Building and the MetLife Building.

Led since 2008 by President and Co-CEO Rob Speyer, the company now has more than 8 million square feet of projects in the development pipeline — perhaps its most ever at the same time.

Among them is a full-scale transformation of nearly six aces of mostly vacant former industrial space in Long Island City’s Queens Plaza district that will consist of two adjacent, mixed-used projects.

The Jacx will be the borough’s largest office development since the Citigroup tower opened in 1990. Two 26-story towers connected by a four-story base will have 1.2 million square feet, of which more than 70 percent is pre-leased to WeWork and Macy’s/Bloomingdale’s.

Across the street, work is nearly done on Jackson Park, a trio of high-rise luxury rental apartment towers with a private park.

Tishman Speyer has also started on The Wheeler, a 10-story, 620,000-square-foot “creative office hub” to rise atop Macy’s department store in downtown Brooklyn.

It also plans a new apartment tower on a former Macy’s garage site across the street.

The developer is also weighing plans for another tower of up to 1.3 million square feet on a site it owns between the new Hudson Boulevard and the Javits Convention Center between West 36th and 37th streets.

Reps for Tishman Speyer declined to comment on the Pfizer situation. A rep for Pfizer said, “We’re still in the process and we expect to announce something either at the end of this year or the beginning of 2018.”

[Submariner]

Good news.

[chris08876]

In other words, this is definitely happening. They seem eager for this to rise quickly. Good news is that Pfizer committing ensures that this can get off the ground. Something we all want. The rest, can always be filled up (In the Spiral). Surely more deals will be struck as this is u/c.

Time is money, and time can't be wasted!

So in lieu of this optimism, and along with 3 Hudson Blvd...



Anytime good news is announced, we must all in unison thump our chests amidst the glorious boom.

[aquablue]

Good news. It's quite interesting to see a new CBD rise in such a short time.

[JMKeynes]

Originally Posted by chris08876

Credit: Radii Inc

Very gorgeous!!!