Hudson Yards, Manhattan

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Hudson Yards is a large-scale redevelopment program planned, funded and constructed under a set of agreements among the State of New York, New York City, and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, with the aim of expanding New York City's Midtown Manhattan Business District westward to the Hudson River. The program includes a major rezoning of the Far West Side, an extension of the New York City Subway's 7 and <7> trains to a new subway station at 34th Street and 11th Avenue, a renovation and expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, and a financing plan to fund the various components. The Special Hudson Yards Zoning District is bounded by 30th Street in the south, 41st Street in the north, 11th Avenue in the west, and Eighth Avenue in the east. The special district also includes Pennsylvania Station, the subject of a major overhaul.

The largest of the concurrent projects made possible by the rezoning is the 28-acre (11 ha) mixed-use "Hudson Yards" real estate development by Related Companies and Oxford Properties, currently being built over the West Side Rail Yard. According to its master plan, created by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, this portion of the redevelopment effort is to consist of 16 skyscrapers to be constructed in two phases. Another major redevelopment project currently under construction in the area is Manhattan West, developed by Brookfield Property Partners over the rail yard west of Ninth Avenue between 31st and 33rd streets.

Video Hudson Yards, Manhattan

Early plans

There has been a long series of proposals to develop the rail yard air rights, including for a major expansion of Midtown Manhattan by William Zeckendorf in the 1950s and for a housing development considered by U.S. Steel in the 1960s. The idea of building housing on air rights over the rail yard, with commercial development between 34th Street and 42nd Street, was included in a 1963 plan announced by Mayor Robert F. Wagner Jr.

The administration of John Lindsay maintained the goal of the 1963 plan--a westward expansion of Midtown--but shifted their focus to the blocks north of 42nd Street, home to 35,000 residents of the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. As a first step, the City approved a convention center on 44th Street. But after the defeat of a bond issue that would have funded a 48th Street "people mover," the City abandoned the rest of the master plan. At the same time the local Hell's Kitchen community proposed that midtown expansion take place south of 42nd Street instead. A community-proposed convention center site--between Eleventh and Twelfth avenues from 34th to 39th streets--was later promoted by Donald Trump, who had obtained an option on the rail yard from the bankrupt Penn Central in 1975. Facing political opposition and the severe fiscal crisis of the 1970s, the City and State eventually chose the rail yard site when the 44th Street site proved to be too expensive. However Trump's offer to build the convention center was rejected.

Despite the completion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in 1986, no further development took place. One impediment to development was a lack of mass transit in the area, which is far from Penn Station, and none of the proposals for a link to Penn Station were pursued successfully (for example, the ill-fated West Side Transitway). No changes to the zoning happened until 1990, when the city rezoned a small segment of 11th Avenue across the street from the Javits Center. However, as most of the area was still zoned for manufacturing and low-rise apartment buildings, the rezoning did not spur development.

Maps Hudson Yards, Manhattan

Redevelopment begins

Formal planning

The Hell's Kitchen community's 1973 proposal for major office and residential development south of 42nd Street was finally realized when all impediments to development were addressed. In 2003, the New York City Department of City Planning issued a master plan that envisioned the creation of 40 million square feet of commercial and residential development, two corridors of open space - one between Eleventh Avenue and Tenth Avenue, and another network of open space between Ninth Avenue and Tenth Avenue to create a park system from West 39th Street to West 34th Street, portions of which would be located along the Dyer Avenue/Lincoln Tunnel Expressway corridors. Dubbed the Hudson Yards Master Plan, the area covered is bordered on the east by Seventh and Eighth Avenues, on the south by West 28th and 30th Streets, on the north by West 43rd Street, and on the west by Hudson River Park and the Hudson River. The City's plan was similar to a neighborhood plan produced by architect Meta Brunzema and environmental planner Daniel Gutman for the Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood Association (HKNA). The main concept of the HKNA plan was to allow major new development while protecting the existing residential core area between Ninth and Tenth avenues.

To help facilitate development, the City's plan called for extending the IRT Flushing Line to a 34th Street subway station under Eleventh Avenue, next to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, which would be expanded by the State. To fund the subway and a park and boulevard and other infrastructure, the City proposed a novel tax-increment financing scheme within a Hudson Yards financing district to collect both residential property taxes and commercial payments-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOTS) and sell transferable development rights to prospective developers. A Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corporation would issue bonds against expected revenues.

In January 2005, the New York City Council approved the 60-block rezoning, including the eastern portion of the West Side Yard. The newly rezoned Hudson Yards area was to have 25,800,000 square feet (2,400,000 m²) of Class A office space, 20,000 housing units, two million square feet (190,000 m²) of hotel space, a 750-seat public school, one million square feet (93,000 m²) of retail and more than 20 acres (8 ha) of public open space. The rezoning and financing district did not include the western portion of the rail yard, which was reserved for the proposed West Side Stadium, to be built for the New York Jets and New York City bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics. When not in use for football, the covered stadium would be a venue for conventions at the Javits Center. In June 2005, the stadium proposal was defeated. After the City rezoned the western rail yard and added it to the financing district, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) sought to develop the 26-acre (11 ha) yard. In conjunction with the City the MTA issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a 12,700,000 square feet (1,180,000 m²) mixed-use development to be built on platforms over the rail yard, which would remain in use throughout.

Rail yard development bids

Five developers responded to the RFP: Extell, Tishman Speyer, Brookfield, Vornado, and the Related Companies. Tishman Speyer won the bid in March 2008. Tishman Speyer entered into a 99-year lease with the MTA, paying $1 billion for the air rights. It would also spend another $2 billion for development over the rail yards, including for the two platforms over the yards to support 15 acres (6.1 ha) of public spaces, four office buildings, and ten high-rise residential towers.

However, just two months later, the deal broke down due to the late-2000s financial crisis. Subsequently, the MTA chose the Related Companies and Goldman Sachs to develop Hudson Yards under the same conditions. In December 2009, the New York City Council approved Related Companies' revised plan for Hudson Yards, and the western portion of the West Side Yard was rezoned. Following the rail yards' successful rezoning, the MTA signed another 99-year lease to the air rights over the rail yard in May 2010. The air rights were signed over to a joint venture of Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group, which invested $400 million to build a platform above both the eastern and western portions of the yard on which to construct the buildings. Groundbreaking for 10 Hudson Yards, the first building, occurred on December 4, 2012.

In April 2013, the Related/Oxford joint venture obtained a $475 million construction loan from parties including Barry Sternlicht's Starwood Capital Group and luxury retailer Coach. The financing deal was unique in several aspects, including the fact that it included a construction mezzanine loan, that Coach was a lender on both the debt and equity sides, and that the MTA reused a "severable lease" structure (previously used by Battery Park City) that allowed for the loans. A portion of the project was also financed by the EB-5 investment program, which uses capital from immigrants who become eligible for a green card.

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Redevelopment progress

Financing

The city had originally projected to receive $563 million from property sales by September 2015, but only half the amount came in. Consequently, the city had to spend more money than planned to pay off debt: for example, a total of $358 million from 2006 to 2015. But sales rose in later years, with 57 buildings built or under construction in the area from 2006 to June 2015. Between July 2014 and June 2015, for example, developers have paid the city $336 million, twice the debt service during that period.

Subway extension

After the Hudson Yards project was approved in 2005, the MTA received proceeds from the initial 2006 bond offering to pay for the subway to 34th Street. With funding assured, the MTA proceeded quickly to construction. The subway extension opened on September 13, 2015, and connects to nearby buildings and developments, including 30 Hudson Yards and the Hudson Park and Boulevard. The 34th Street station's main entrance, escalators and an elevator on the west side of Hudson Park and Boulevard between 33rd and 34th Streets, is at the foot of 55 Hudson Yards and is just half a block away from the rail yard's northern edge. Another station, planned for Tenth Avenue and 41st Street, was not built.

Parks

Hudson Park and Boulevard, a four-acre system of parks and roads, is located north of the rail yard site, extending from 33rd Street to 39th Street, mid-block between Tenth Avenue and Eleventh Avenue. The boulevard is divided into a Hudson Boulevard East and a Hudson Boulevard West, with the park between the two. The first phase, between 33rd and 36th Streets, was completed in August 2015. Proposed parks between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the original plan were later dropped.

In late 2014, the final phase of the High Line, an elevated park using the former right-of-way of the southern portion of the West Side Line, opened. It enters the Hudson Yards site and curves along 30th Street, Twelfth Avenue and 34th Street, with a spur (dubbed "The Spur") along 30th Street to Tenth Avenue. Related Companies intends to integrate the High Line with its buildings; for example, 10 Hudson Yards cantilevers over The Spur. Dubbed "High Line at the Rail Yards", the section will be built in three phases. The right-of-way from 30th Street will be extended into the Hudson Yards site, running parallel to 30th Street past Eleventh Avenue, and developed in a manner similar to the opened sections of the park. The Spur along 30th Street is slated to get an amphitheater, restrooms, trees and grasses above Tenth Avenue. Finally, the curved section around the western part of Hudson Yards will be developed as an "interim walkway", with further construction in 2015.

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Hudson Yards Real Estate Development

Rail yard construction

The new platform upon which the Hudson Yards development will be built is bordered by 10th and 12th Avenues and by 30th and 33rd Streets. In 2014, it was expected to cost more than US$20 billion and may eventually see 65,000 visitors a day. As of June 2015, construction is overseen by Related Companies' executive vice president, Timur Galen.

The 26.17-acre (10.59 ha) Hudson Yards project,, was to be constructed over the existing at-grade West Side Yard, allowing LIRR trains to continue to be stored during midday hours. The land parcel is bordered by 30th Street and Chelsea on the south, Twelfth Avenue on the west, 33rd Street and Hell's Kitchen on the north, and Tenth Avenue on the east. Eleventh Avenue runs through the site, and splits the redevelopment project into two phases. To minimize construction impact on the LIRR's ability to store trains during midday and peak hours, caissons were drilled into bedrock throughout much of the site, over which the platform was to be built. However, only 38% of the ground level at West Side Yard was to be filled in with columns to support the development. Much of the platform itself will be built by a huge Manitowoc 18000 crane. The eastern platform, supporting the towers, comprises 16 bridges. The platform for the Eastern Rail Yard was completed in October 2015, and the western platform will be completed by 2016.

In 2013, Amtrak announced it would build a "tunnel box" through the project areas to reserve the space for a future rail right-of-way such as the proposed Gateway Project. Construction began September 2013 and is expected to take two years. The underground concrete casing is 800 ft (240 m) long, 50 ft (15 m) wide, and approximately 35 ft (11 m) tall.

Phase 1

Phase 1, the eastern phase, is to contain two office towers on Tenth Avenue, plus a retail podium between them. The southern tower, the 52-story, 895-foot (273 m) 10 Hudson Yards, opened in 2016, anchored by Coach Inc. The building, for which ground was broken on December 4, 2012, was the first of the Hudson Yards buildings to begin construction, because it is not being built over railroad tracks. It will, however, straddle the High Line spur to Tenth Avenue. 10 Hudson Yards, which opened on May 31, 2016, is expected to receive LEED Gold certification, as all of the other Phase 1 buildings. The other tower, the 80-story, 1,337-foot (408 m) 30 Hudson Yards, is designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox with an observation deck. Construction will begin after caissons are sunk to support the platform over the tracks, the latter of which will be raised 12 to 27 feet (4 to 8 m) above ground level and be level with the High Line. Related Companies officials expect 30 Hudson Yards to be occupied by 2018.

Bordering Eleventh Avenue are two mixed-use buildings, 15 Hudson Yards and 35 Hudson Yards, which were previously known as the D and E Towers, respectively. 15 Hudson Yards will be connected to a semi-permanent structure, a performance and arts space known as the Culture Shed. 15 Hudson Yards started construction in December 2014, and construction on 35 Hudson Yards's foundation was started in January 2015.

In Phase 1, there will also be 100 shops and 20 restaurants inside a proposed 7-story mall, which will have 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m²) of space, including 750,000 square feet (70,000 m²) in retail, possibly including department stores and a movie theater. The retail space, designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects with a connection to the bases of 10 and 30 Hudson Yards, started construction in June 2015, with a 100,000 short tons (91,000,000 kg) order of steel, one of the largest such orders in the history of the United States. In September 2014, Neiman Marcus was signed to become the anchor tenant of the Hudson Yards Retail Space, which will open in 2018; the store will occupy the top 3 levels and ¹/₄ of the mall, or 250,000 square feet (23,000 m²). Fairway, a locally based grocer, is expected to build a store in the lower floors of the building, occupying 45,875 square feet (4,262 m²). Chef and restaurateur Thomas Keller will open a restaurant in the complex, in addition to selecting 11 other restaurants in the retail space; all 12 restaurants are expected to open in 2018. The mall may be anchored by Dior and Chanel on the topmost floors, with "a 'Fifth Avenue' mix of shops", such as H&M, Zara, and Sephora below them.

There will also be a 6-acre (2 ha) public square, with 28,000 plants and 225 trees, on the platform. In the middle of the square would be a 16-story structure of connected staircases between the buildings; the structure, titled Vessel, is designed by Thomas Heatherwick and will cost US$150 million. The public square will be a ventilation area for the West Side Yards, as well as a storm water runoff site. Storm water that runs off into the square will be reused. Since it is going to be on top of an active rail yard, the public square would be located over a 6-foot (1.8 m) deep plenum above a huge cooling slab with 15 fans blowing 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) air and a 60,000-US-gallon (230,000 l; 50,000 imp gal) rainwater storage tank. The whole platform would then be supported by 234 caissons. The plantings themselves would be rooted with "smart soil".

Phase 2

The western phase of the project is to contain up to seven residential towers, an office building at 33rd Street and Eleventh Avenue tentatively known as "West Tower", and a school serving Pre-K to eighth grade students. The third phase of the High Line will traverse Phase 2 of the project. The entire project, including Phase 2, could be complete by 2024.

Technology implementation

The rail yard development will be technologically advanced, in that all sorts of data will be collected within the buildings using sensors and other data-collecting instruments. Among the innovations will be:

• Air quality monitoring
• Heat mapping to track crowd size and energy usage
• Opt-in mobile apps to help collect data about users' health and activities
• Pedestrian and vehicular traffic monitoring
• Sensors collecting data about noise levels and energy and water usage
• Energy savings using a microgrid
• Organic and solid waste collection and recycling using pneumatic tubes installed by Envac, which operate at 45 miles per hour (72 km/h); garbage trucks will not be used.

New York University's Center for Urban Science and Progress is designing the infrastructure with the developers of Hudson Yards. Fiber loops connected to satellite dishes on rooftops, to transponders, and to two-way radios will create a network covering the 14 acres (6 ha) of open space as well as 17,000,000 square feet (1,600,000 m²) of commercial space. The technology is designed to be adaptable -- updates to infrastructure will be performed as new technological advances are made.

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Other projects

Manhattan West

Brookfield, a Canadian asset manager, is developing the second-largest project in Hudson Yards. Dubbed "Manhattan West" it will comprise six buildings, two of which are pre-existing structures undergoing substantial renovations. The project will include three office buildings, two residential buildings, and one hotel. The two principal office buildings and a public green space, open year-round, will be placed on a platform over covered tracks that lead from the West Side Yard to Penn Station. Tenants slated to move into 1 and 2 Manhattan West include Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and the National Hockey League.

To facilitate construction Brookfield announced that it would use prefabricated parts to build the platform.

The Spiral

In early 2014, real estate firm Massey Knakal announced a conceptual supertall with a 1.22 million square feet capacity and 108 stories that would soar over 1,800 feet on the north side of 34th Street between Hudson Boulevard and Tenth Avenue in order to show the potential of a site that it intended to sell. Dubbed Hudson Spire and designed by MJM+A architects, it would be the tallest tower in the Western Hemisphere if completed. The site was later purchased by Tishman Speyer on April 30, 2014, along with two adjacent properties for a total space of 2,850,000 square feet (265,000 m²).

The plans for The Spire were later replaced with plans designed by Bjarke Ingels Group, dubbed The Spiral.

Associated developments

Even before the opening of any of the rail yard buildings, many businesses in the area have seen increased profits due to the project's construction. The Hudson Yards redevelopment program catalyzed plans to build new buildings along the future Hudson Boulevard. There has also been a development boom in the vicinity of the rail yard development. Among these are 3 Hudson Boulevard (formerly the GiraSole), located on 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue.

In February 2015, the Chetrit Group, headed by Meyer and Joseph Chetrit, announced that it wanted to spend US$29 million to expand one Hudson Yards development site to 373,068 square feet (34,659.2 m²). It would add about 200,000 square feet (19,000 m²) of space to a site between 11th Avenue, 37th and 38th Streets, and Hudson Boulevard that previously allowed 173,000 square feet (16,100 m²) of retail space. A buyer would be able to split the space between two buildings.

In June 2015, Tishman Speyer bought another lot between West 36th and 37th Streets on 11th Avenue; the lot was zoned for a 735,000 square feet (68,300 m²) residential and hotel property. It is next to a lot--zoned for a planned residential tower--that was bought in 2012 by Lalezarian Properties for $46.5 million, Tishman Speyer's land is also close to a lot owned by former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, who bought the lot in 2013 and plans at least 414,000 square feet (38,500 m²) of new development space.

Two other new Related buildings, One Hudson Yards and Abington House, are adjacent the Phase 1 buildings, but are unrelated to the Hudson Yards project.

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List of buildings

Below is a list of buildings constructed, planned, or proposed for the broader Hudson Yards neighborhood (from Northwest to Southeast):

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See also

• West Side Yards
• Javits Center
• Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
• Pacific Park, formerly "Atlantic Yards", a similar redevelopment project in Downtown Brooklyn
• List of tallest buildings in New York City

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References

Notes

Further reading

• Arak, Joey. "Brookfield Properties Goes Splittsville" on Curbed.com (November 19, 2007)
• Chaban, Matt. "Scaling the Towers of Hudson Yards" in New York Observer (July 12, 2011)
• Davidson, Justin. "From 0 to 12 Million Square Feet" New York (October 7, 2012).
• Dobkin, Jake. "Checking In At Hudson Yards, Manhattan's Enormous New Luxury Neighborhood" in Gothamist (July 16, 2015
• Samtani, Hiten. "Anatomy of a deal: Inside Related/Oxford's unusual financing of Hudson Yards" in The Real Deal (August 16, 2013))
• "An Investment That's Paying Off: The Economic and Fiscal Impact of the Development of Hudson Yards" (PDF). hudsonyardsnewyork.com. Hudson Yards. May 2016. 

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External links

Project websites:

• Official website
• Official blog
• New York City project website
• Related Companies project website

Descriptions:

• Description of Hudson Yards on official website
• Animation: building the platform while trains run through Brookfield properties, via Gothamist
• Hudson Yards news and developments on The Real Deal's website

Maps:

• Map: "Definitive Guide to the Hudson Yards Development Boom" on Curbed
• Map of area on Imgur

Source of the article : Wikipedia