NEW YORK | Hudson Yards; 40 msf of development

[yankeesfan1000]

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...ewYork.com%29#

By Jeremy Smerd
February 10, 2011 1:34 PM


Owner aims to lease 3.5M SF at Hudson Yards
The Related Cos.' Chief Executive Stephen Ross says he expects to lease about a quarter of the 12 million-square-foot Hudson Yards development by the end of the year.


Stephen Ross is bullish on New York real estate, particularly his own.

The chief executive of The Related Cos. said Wednesday night that he expects to lease 3.5 million square feet of commercial office space by the end of the year at his 26-acre Hudson Yards development on the West Side of Manhattan.

Speaking at a real estate forum at Columbia University, Mr. Ross said Related is actively negotiating with several large corporations that he hopes will become anchor tenants at the site. He declined to name the companies and their industries.

"I'm very encouraged by the interest we're getting," Mr. Ross said.

The 12 million-square-foot, $15 billion project could take 15 years to finish. And Mr. Ross—a part owner of the Miami Dolphins—said no deals have yet been signed.

He joked that his predictions could go the way of his Super Bowl forecast from months ago. "I'm the guy who picked Miami to win the Super Bowl," he said. But he added that with the area's aging building stock, companies are eager to move into gleaming office towers in a waterfront area that will have easy access to the extended No. 7 train at the site's West 33rd Street border.

"I'm very optimistic," Mr. Ross said. "It's a bright sign for the future."

The first building is not expected to open until 2015, at the earliest.

Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert Steel, who also spoke at the forum, said Hudson Yards development would be the "last frontier" of class A office space in Manhattan after the redevelopment of lower Manhattan. Mr. Steel said the development, which he noted would provide up to four times the amount of office space as Rockefeller Center, represented a major achievement for the Bloomberg administration, which had championed the redevelopment of the state-owned property since the mayor's first term.

"This will be a legacy project that puts things into place for our administration," Mr. Steel said.

Luxury accessories company Coach is among the companies that have been reported to be interested in moving to Hudson Yards.

[NYguy]

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/articl...om-improvement

Subway planners present the No. 7 extension, with room for improvement


Rendering of a platform for the No. 7 subway extension. via Parsons Brinckerhoff.

By Katharine Jose
Feb. 15, 2011

The thing about the planners and engineers and architects whose job it is to create municipal infrastructure—for example, the extension of the No. 7 subway line from Times Square to 34th Street and 11th Avenue—is that they tend to think of people as problems to be solved. People can't be allowed to stand still for too long; they can't be packed too tight in enclosed spaces; they can't be encouraged to move aimlessly, or in ways that will interfere with the more purposeful movements of others.

This explains the emphasis placed by Beth Greenberg, a principal at Dattner Architects and the chief architect for the No. 7 Line Subway Extension, on “intuitive wayfinding.” As she put it in a lecture at the Center for Architecture last week, that means that in the new subway station at the end of the 7 line, “although there will certainly be signage, the architectural form should clearly direct passengers along their route.”

...The westward extension of the 7 line, which currently runs from Flushing to Times Square, is part of the M.T.A.’s capital plan and also of the city’s master plan. The area whose development is meant to be catalyzed by the new station is in a sense the last frontier in Manhattan, a fairly large plot of land running approximately between 42nd Street and 30th Street, and between Eighth Avenue and the river. The only real landmarks along this route are the Javits Center—which, under the city's plan, will be expanded—and the West Side Rail Yards. Rezoning was approved for the area east of 11th Avenue in 2005, and for the far west section, which includes the rail yards, in 2009.

The subway terminal at 34th Street is going to be the only new station created by the extension of the line, but it is expected to be wildly busy, handling 26,000 passengers going out during morning peak hour and 15,000 coming in at the same time, by the time the development is completed. It sits at the end of Hudson Boulevard, which the city calls a "greenway," and which cuts diagonally across the development, looking something like Broadway over Manhattan, except it cuts the other way.

Because the station is, in a sense, the capping off of the park, and because this development is so carefully planned, so preciously designed, the terminal is a big deal. And complicated.

...It's rare in New York to build in a space where there is, from a planner’s point of view, nothing. Approve or not, the Hudson Yards development is a reflection of what Michael Bloomberg and his consultants consider to be the ideal neighborhood. And they have a clean slate. Similarly, it’s rare that anyone gets to build a whole new subway station, with no interfering old infrastructure.

So the 34th Street stop is, in some ways, a reflection of what subway station builders consider to be the ideal subway station. That includes, among other things, new technology that can be built right into the station.

For example, there will be two inclined elevators, which have plexiglass walls and slide up and down along a track built between the two escalators, sort of like an elevator on an escalator. This is apparently a better experience for elevator-riders. Also, they now have escalators that can sense how many people are passing through, and slow down or speed up accordingly...

[NYguy]

http://therealdeal.com/newyork/artic...1-times-square

Far West Side commercial growth may spur Midtown residential conversions


left: Robert Futterman, Jay Cross, Larry Silverstein, Stephen Siegel, Ronald Sernau, Laurie Golub and Steven Pozycki


March 03, 2011
By Adam Pincus

Amid much back-slapping and cheerleading about the growth of Manhattan's West Side at a panel yesterday that included developer Larry Silverstein, there was a hint that change could be afoot for the East Side of Midtown in the years to come.

The millions of square feet of new office development being planned and built on the West Side in projects such as SJP Properties' 11 Times Square and Related Companies' Hudson Yards could lead owners of older Midtown office buildings -- many of which are on the East Side -- to convert them into residential apartments, following a pattern seen Downtown.

"A lot of [Midtown East Side] buildings are old, and are approaching obsolescence, and they will be upgraded," Stephen Siegel, chairman of global brokerage at commercial firm CB Richard Ellis, said, during the panel, which covered West Side development. "Downtown you had the same thing, and a lot of those buildings were taken down or converted to residential."

But Siegel, one of eight speakers at the event sponsored by publisher Bisnow at 11 Times Square, said it was not a zero-sum game.

"This is not robbing Peter to pay Paul," he said. "If you can't believe that 40 million square feet [of new development] can be absorbed by growth and new tenants in the next five to 10 years, then you don't believe in the city at all."

Another speaker, Silverstein, president and CEO of Silverstein properties, gave a brief history of his development of One River Place and Silver Towers, two large rental buildings on the Far West Side. He said he paid what seemed an exorbitant price of $20 million in 1984 for the entire city block between 41st and 42nd streets, and 11th and 12th avenues. At the time it was zoned single-story industrial.

"But I had a belief that a square block on 42nd Street had enormous value, if you could get it rezoned. And it cried out for a rezoning," he said. Ultimately, he got the city's approval, and built the projects in phases, with his 935-unit Silver Towers opening in 2009.

The other panelists included Scott Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, who gave opening remarks; Steven Pozycki, chairman and CEO of SJP Properties; Robert Futterman, chairman and CEO of Robert K. Futterman & Associates; Ron Sernau, partner at law firm Proskauer Rose; Laurie Golub, managing director of business affairs at Africa-Israel USA; and Jay Cross, president of Related Hudson Yards. The panel was moderated by Bruce Mosler, chairman of global brokerage for Cushman & Wakefield.

[NYguy]

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...ATE/110409997#

Big site across from High Line on block
Tenth Avenue lot could become launch pad for a half-million-square-foot mixed-use tower; previous owner, Extell, had planned 774-foot tower in fast-rising West Chelsea.

By Amanda Fung
April 1, 2011

A major West Side development site that was formerly owned by developer Extell Development is up for grabs. The property is across the street from the second phase of the The High Line, at 356-366 Tenth Ave.

Massey Knakal Realty Services has been retained to exclusively market the 25,779-square-foot vacant lot, between West 30th and West 31st streets.

According to public city records, Barclays Capital Real Estate Finance Inc. owns the property. Last year, Extell Development decided to give the lot back to Barclays, which was the original lender on the purchase of the site. Barclays issued a $28.8 million first mortgage on the property in 2007 to Extell, which reportedly had plans to build a 774-foot tall commercial tower, including hotel rooms, there.

“There are very few development site sale opportunities in the area,” said James Nelson, a partner at Massey Knakal, who is marketing the lot along with the firm's chairman, Robert Knakal. Mr. Nelson declined to confirm the owner of the site. There is no asking price for the site.

The property, which is zoned for mixed-use, allows the buyer to build a 258,000-square-foot development. However, the purchaser can buy from the Hudson Yards District Improvement Fund additional development rights to construct a larger project that would exceed 550,000 square feet. Also, a purchaser can buy 116 421-a certificates along with the site, Mr. Nelson said. The 421-a Partial Tax Exemption Program expired at the end of last year, so the certificates, which are seen in the industry as crucial to developing new housing, are very valuable.

The lot is located on Tenth Avenue, across from the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, a 26-acre mixed use development that is expected to include about 24 million square feet of Class A office space, 13,500 units of residential, 1 million square feet of retail and a 750-seat public school. It is also located near what will be the extended No. 7 subway stop at West 34th Street.

“West Chelsea has become a valuable corridor,” Mr. Nelson said. “The area has blossomed.”

A few blocks away, on Eleventh Avenue at West 28th Street, AvalonBay Communities Inc. is expected to break ground in June on a 691-unit mixed-income rental building, the real estate developer's largest luxury rental project in the nation.

After a rocky start due to the real estate downturn, a nearby 91-unit new condo development called +aRT, is also experiencing a change of fortune. Ekstein Development, the 13-story project's developer, announced Thursday that closings at the building began and its first sale was a 445-square-foot studio that sold for more than $1,300 per square foot.

curbed.com

[SkyscrapersOfNewYork]

is that gonna be built?

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by SkyscrapersOfNewYork

is that gonna be built?

No. The site is for sell.

[NYguy]

http://www.rail.co/2011/04/05/new-yo...on-progresses/

New York City Subway’s No.7 extension progresses



By A. Samuel
April 5, 2011

Construction of the ‘No. 7 Subway Extension,’ which will provide new subway service to 34th Street and 11th Avenue, continues to make significant progress, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has announced.

As part of the project’s largest contract, the boring for two parallel subway tunnels is complete.

The contract, which also includes excavation of a three-block long cavern for the subway station, a station platform and mezzanine level, is 85 percent complete. It has a contractual completion date of September 2012.

The concrete pours which create the main cavern arches for the station have also been completed.

A systems contract, which will include rail track, all mechanical, electrical and related systems throughout the tunnels, station, ventilation buildings and the main subway entrance at 34th Street is currently in procurement, with a forecasted award date of July 2011.

This is the last contract needed to initiate service on the No. 7 Line Extension in December 2013.

An additional contract for a secondary entrance to the subway station will be awarded in the future, but its completion is not necessary for service to begin on the new subway extension.

The No. 7 Line extension will go from the intersection of West 41st Street and Eighth Avenue, west under 41st Street, and turn south under 11th Avenue.

A new terminal station will be located at 34th Street and 11th Avenue, allowing convenient access to the adjacent development and the Jacob Javits Convention Center.

The 7 line extension will introduce subway service to an emerging mixed-use community in Midtown West, fostering transit oriented development in one of Manhattan’s most underserved and underdeveloped areas.

The City created two local development corporations, the Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corporation (HYIC), which is contributing $2.1 billion to the project, and the Hudson Yards Development Corporation (HYDC), which oversees planning and development in the Hudson Yards on behalf of the City.

[NYguy]

http://www.theatlantic.com/national/...subway/243354/

Photo Gallery: Subterranean Construction on the NYC Subway

By Brian Resnick
Aug 10 2011,

Wall Street may be having a rough week, but there's clear progress happening underneath New York's financial institutions.

As part of its plan to redevelop the warehouse district around Hudson Yards, the city of New York has undertaken a $2.1 billion, two-mile expansion of the No. 7 subway line from Times Square to 11th Avenue. The No. 7 crosses just about every other NYC subway line; extending it to the yards will give most New Yorkers access to the soon-to-be-developed neighborhood west of Eighth Avenue and north of 34th Street. The project broke ground in 2007 and is now nearing the end of its heavy construction phase.

Workers are building the extension of the 7 subway line to 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue. These tunnels, underneath the Port Authority Bus Terminal, are located near Times Square.


A completed tunnel with its concrete liner in place.











Progress is being made on the new 34th street station.


This is the mezzanine level of the future 34th Street Station.



A display of patriotism hangs in the incomplete subway station.

[RobertWalpole]

Originally Posted by NYguy

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...ATE/110409997#

Big site across from High Line on block
Tenth Avenue lot could become launch pad for a half-million-square-foot mixed-use tower; previous owner, Extell, had planned 774-foot tower in fast-rising West Chelsea.

By Amanda Fung
April 1, 2011




curbed.com

If someone builds a 550k sf residential, it could be a 1,300 foot tall tower!

[NYguy]

The final run towards an opening...

http://www.yournabe.com/articles/201...9671526626.txt
MTA to start last phase of No. 7 Manhattan extension

By Philip Newman
Thursday, September 15, 2011

MTA officials announced Wednesday that construction will start this month on the final major project to extend the No. 7 subway to Manhattan’s far west side.

The $517 million final major contract was signed last month and awarded jointly to Skanska USA and RailWorks Corp.

In the final major phase of the construction, workers will lay tracks and install third rails and signals in newly finished tunnels. The project includes installing elevators and escalators as well as power, lighting, plumbing, heating and air conditioning in the new station at 34th Street and 11th Avenue.

[NYguy]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fit...ble-2011-09-27

Fitch Rates Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corp. (NY) Senior Revs 'A'; Outlook Stable

September 27, 2011

Fitch Ratings has assigned a rating of 'A' to the following Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corporation's (HYIC or the corporation) senior revenue bonds: --$1 billion, fiscal 2012, series A.

The bonds will be offered through negotiation and are expected to be delivered on or about Oct. 19, 2011. Proceeds will finance a portion of the costs of various projects undertaken to support future development of the Hudson Yards financing district, an approximate 45-square-block area in west central Manhattan. Proceeds from the sale will fund the design and construction of an extension of the No. 7 subway line, the construction of a system of parks, public open spaces and streets in the project area, and certain property acquisition.

The bonds are ultimately secured by revenues expected to be generated from development in the Hudson Yards area of Manhattan. The project area is a roughly 45-square-block area from West 43rd Street, 7th & 8th Avenues, to 30th Street, 11th & 12th Avenues.

[QuarterMileSidewalk]

http://archrecord.construction.com/f...rss_archrecord


Image courtesy KPF

Hudson Yards
Midtown Manhattan, West Side
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
Status: Awaiting tenant commitments
By Jenna M. McKnight


City officials and developers have long imagined a dazzling future for the airspace over the gritty, 26-acre West Side Rail Yard, near Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan.

Starting in the late 1990s, the city proposed constructing a platform over the below-grade portion of the rail yard and building a stadium on the site for the New York Yankees. That initiative, along with succeeding plans to build arenas for the New York Jets and 2012 Olympics, never came to fruition. The city eventually shifted gears and set out to transform the rail yard into a mixed-use district speckled with modern glass towers and pockets of green space (see our interview with City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden).

That idea has gained traction. In 2007, the developer Related Companies (then partnered with Goldman Sachs) tapped Kohn Pedersen Fox to design a master plan for the so-called Hudson Yards. The following year, in May 2008, Related struck a deal with the Metropolitan Transit Authority to lease the rail yard (bordered by 10th and 12th Avenues and West 30th and West 33rd Streets). A series of twists ensued. In early 2010, Goldman Sachs pulled out, jeopardizing the project’s future, yet months later, Related brought on a new partner, Oxford Properties Group. Hudson Yards now appears to be moving forward.

Assuming all goes as planned, the $15 billion, 12 million-square-foot development will feature three office towers, nine residential towers, a 750,000-square-foot retail complex, a school, and a cultural center, plus 12 acres of open space. The scheme might sound idealistic, but it has a precedent: More than a century ago, swanky Park Avenue was created atop sunken railroad tracks leading to Grand Central Terminal.

If tenants can be secured, Related hopes to break ground on the project in 2012. Two important additions to the area should help the cause: A subway line is being extended into the district, and the recently expanded High Line park now reaches to 30th Street. Still, even if Related starts construction of this colossal project next year, it will be at least a decade before this glistening new neighborhood has fully taken shape.

I found this article today; there's no date in the text, so I'm not certain if it's new or not, but that rendering definitely caught my eye. Has that been seen before?

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by QuarterMileSidewalk

I found this article today; there's no date in the text, so I'm not certain if it's new or not, but that rendering definitely caught my eye. Has that been seen before?

Yep....
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=187315




http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...111009990/1072

Several prime Hudson Yards lots hit the market
Price tag for the foreclosed industrial sites? Just under $30 million—far below what was paid for them during the bubble by a group that included the notorious Baruch Singer.

By Amanda Fung
October 3, 2011

Brokerage Massey Knakal Realty Services was recently retained to market the properties on the north side of West 37th Street and the south side of West 38th Street between 10th and 11th avenues. The properties were recently foreclosed on by the owner's lender, Fortress Credit Corp., which hired Massey Knakal to sell the properties, according to public records.

...Interest in developing at the Hudson Yards site has picked up recently, thanks to the recent extension of the popular, elevated High Line park, the anticipated expansion of the 7 subway line, and Related Cos.' plan to construct a sprawling mixed-use development over the rail yards west of Penn Station. Nine months ago, Mr. Knakal noted, his firm sold a smaller development site east of the one it is currently marketing located at West 37th Street between Ninth and 10th avenues, for about $18 million to Jackson Development. Jackson plans to build a residential development on that site.

“Development in Hudson Yards will happen a lot quicker than people expect,” predicted Ryan Nelson, a senior vice president at Sherwood Equities, who declined to comment on the latest site that is for sale.

Sherwood has not decided what it plans to build on the vacant development site it purchased in the neighborhood for $43.5 million earlier this year. “We are very excited,” Mr. Nelson said.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by NYguy

The final run towards an opening...

http://www.yournabe.com/articles/201...9671526626.txt
MTA to start last phase of No. 7 Manhattan extension

By Philip Newman
Thursday, September 15, 2011

May not be the last phase after all...

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/m...DdLKJYx7XCxGSI

Mayor aboard subway to NJ

By JOSH MARGOLIN
October 26, 2011

Mayor Bloomberg is pushing forward with a proposal to extend the No. 7 train to New Jersey and get the project locked in before he leaves City Hall in two years, The Post has learned. Bloomberg’s enthusiasm grew in recent weeks after he saw the findings of a preliminary feasibility study from engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff.

The city paid $250,000 for that analysis, which lays out a plan for a tunnel that would connect the Hudson Yards on the far West Side to Secaucus, NJ. The subway line would terminate at the Secaucus Junction rail station along the New Jersey Turnpike. Analysts believe the project would spur development along the West Side and relieve crowding on the NJ Transit lines and at Manhattan’s Penn Station.

Bloomberg has envisioned that the 7 train extension would spark a new building boom of high-rise office towers in the Hudson Yards area -- development he’s banking on to help repay bonds that were sold to pay for the project.

[fimiak]

Whatever one's opinion on the mayor may be, he certainly has been one of the biggest supporters of the skyscraper/development scene.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by fimiak

Whatever one's opinion on the mayor may be, he certainly has been one of the biggest supporters of the skyscraper/development scene.

Under Bloomberg, the City Planning agency has been very much involved with pushing new skyscrapers up on the west side. That's mainly because New York needs these new skyscrapers to compete on a global level.



http://www.businessweek.com/news/201...ew-jersey.html

Christie Praises New York City Subway Extension to New Jersey

October 27, 2011

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said he’d support the extension of New York City’s No. 7 subway to Secaucus, offering more commuters direct Manhattan access.

New Jersey will “do our share” if New York state and the city contribute to the financing, Christie said in a WCBS radio interview yesterday. “All of this will be able to come together.”

__________________________________________


http://www.metro.us/newyork/local/ar...-7-train-to-nj

MTA: Don’t expect us to fund 7 train to NJ

EMILY ANNE EPSTEIN
October 26, 2011

yesterday MTA officials reiterated that the cash-strapped agency simply cannot afford to fund a subway to New Jersey.

“We’re focusing on the three capital projects we have now,” an MTA spokesman said.

One MTA board member, Allen Cappelli, even suggested that Staten Island, which has only the ferry and a gridlocked expressway to connect it to the rest of the city, ought to get priority over the Garden State. “I would hope that the 500,000 people of Staten Island deserve more than lip service,” Cappelli huffed yesterday at an MTA board meeting.

The estimated cost to extend the 7 line would be less than $10 billion and would be split between the city, the Port Authority and that state of New Jersey.

[NYC4Life]

Imagine if both the 7 line was extended into Jersey, while the 1 line gets extended into Staten Island and perhaps even merge with the S.I. Railway.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by NYC4Life

Imagine if both the 7 line was extended into Jersey, while the 1 line gets extended into Staten Island and perhaps even merge with the S.I. Railway.

If there is ever an extension of the subway to Staten Island, it would come from Brooklyn, not Manhattan. Extending the lite rail from Bayonne to Staten Island would also help. The significance of extending the subway into New Jersey, even if just the Secaucus junction is huge on both sides, and another boost to west side development.

[NYguy]

http://www.dnainfo.com/20111101/chel...-anchor-tenant

Bloomberg praised the MTA for building the new extension of the 7 Train, which he said would help unlock the neighborhood to commuters. A new station is expected to open in December 2013 at West 34th Street and 11th Avenue.

"This is our economic future," Bloomberg said. "Mass transit really does open up this part of the city to construction and jobs and parks."

The mayor also announced that construction will begin next year on a new north-south avenue running between 10th and 11th Avenues between 30th and 42nd streets called Hudson Boulevard. The space is currently an open space over the MTA railyards which will have to have a platform built above it in order to support the development.

[NYguy]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/28/ny...velopment.html
From Ashes of Olympic Bid, a Future Rises for the Far West Side






By CHARLES V. BAGLI
November 27, 2011

Late in his first term, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg suffered a stinging defeat when, after an extensive planning and public relations effort, New York City lost its bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Now, though, a vibrant neighborhood is rising in the area where the Olympic stadium and complex would have stood on the Far West Side of Manhattan. As a result, officials, developers and urban planners are embracing an unlikely notion: the Olympic bid’s defeat may have been one of the best things to happen for the city’s growth in recent memory.

No one expects the Far West Side to look like the office canyons on Avenue of the Americas anytime soon. Another deep recession in the next few years could undermine nascent plans.

Still, city officials predict that within two decades, Hudson Yards could have more office space than Baltimore or Portland, Ore., and as many apartments as Stamford, Conn.

Commercial development has progressed more slowly because of the area’s lack of public transportation, its untested location and the costly decks that must be built over the railroad tracks. Even so, Related, Brookfield Properties, Sherwood Equities and other developers at Hudson Yards said they were optimistic that the first set of commercial buildings was only a few years off, especially with the subway extension set to open in 2013.