[NYguy]

^ It can be tricky trying to base height judged on renderings, but its in that range.




http://www.cityrealty.com/new-york-c...-horsley/39962

Related posts new renderings and information on its Hudson Yards project

March 23, 2011
By Carter B. Horsley

The Related Cos. have posted a Hudson Yards website with new renderings and details of its planned huge redevelopment of the midtown rail yards near the Hudson River.

The first phase of the development consists of three towers at the east end of the mutli-block site surrounding a low-rise, glass-enclosed, multi-level retail structure with an off-set domed roof.

Archpaper.com notes that the central retail structure is being designed by Werner Sobek and states that "the developers envision the retail as a Time Warner Center meets Eataly kind of place," adding that "Sobek, engineer designer of airports, bridges and assorted 'widespans' as well as membranes in glass, metal and fabric is well up to the task with a tectonic shell that any trapeze artist could fall for," an apparent reference to the "net" aspects of the retail structure rendering.

The Hudson Yards website notes that "The $2.1 billion subway extension is fully funded and under construction. Crews working today are simultaneous boring and constructing the tunnels underneath city streets while they are also building the new station at the 34th Street and 11th Avenue that will be at the front door to Hudson Yards. The project is on budget and on schedule. The transit system testing will begin in 2013 and a grand opening is scheduled for January 2014, at least a year before the first phase of Hudson Yards is opened."

"The cutting-edge design for the station, fully advanced and climate controlled is indicative," it continued, "of New York City's new focus on state-of-the-art rail transportation and quality public space. The new No. 7 station entrances will be built within the new four-acres open space of the Hudson Park and Boulevard, similar to the gracious entry for the Jubilee Line at Canary Wharf. The station and trains will be the most modern in NYC Transit, and the first new expansion of the system in over half a century."

The website said that the project is "future proofed with the most sustainable infrastructure above and below."

"On-site natural gas-fired tri-generation plants could provide commercial buildings with up to 100 percent redundant power, at a lower cost and carbon output to peak grid power. Efficiencies over twice that of utility plants are achieved by powering HVAC equipment with the system's waste energy. During off hours, excess power generation and HVAC capacity will serve neighboring residential and hotel properties."

"Planning and infrastructure will provide individual buildings and tenants with 'economies of scale' benefits, including centralized waste collection via underground vacuum tubes, centralized vehicle security and coordinated loading dock access....Water prices have increased well over 10 percent year on year for the last three years, a trend that is expected to continue. Meanwhile, Manhattan's combined sewage system results in direct sewage outflow to the Hudson River during major rain events. To manage both of these issues, Hudson Yards will use nearly 100 percent of the rainwater that lands on the site and isn't absorbed by park and green roof terrace landscaping for mechanical cooling, toilet flushing and irrigation."

The website offers a downloadable 50-page brochure that includes information on the project's utility services trench grid and massing diagrams illustrating the completion of buildings on the site in four phases beginning in 2017 and ending in 2025.