The New Heart of New York: Hudson Yards

(Images above - Related Companies)

They don’t call them mega-projects for nothin’.  Hudson Yards, has recently broke ground on the largest private real estate development in US History. The $15 Billion redevelopment project sits on the west side of Manhattan fronting the Hudson River between W. 30^th and W 34^th Streets (it is worth note that the Hudson Yards district from which this project is named is a much larger area).  

(Project Master Plan and Boundaries)

(Image of existing MTA rail yard)

The 26 acre parcel (the largest undeveloped piece of property in Manhattan) is currently home to the Metropolitan Transit Authority West Side Yard.  The plan is to develop the air rights over the sprawling rail yard and develop a mixed-use community consisting of 10 high rise towers (office and residential), a 750,000 sf mall, 14 acre park, cultural spaces, a hotel and a school that will eclipse 10 million sf of development. Although on a much more massive scale, this project has many similarities to BurnhamPlace in Washington, DC where air rights are being developed on that project as well. And although the train yard provides opportunities to start from scratch in this urban scenario, this project also has similarities to The Yards in DC as well.  Both have been chronicled in previous posts. 

(All images above - Related Companies)

In addition to the city within a city that will reportedly employ 30,000 and house another 10,000, the Hudson Yards project will also facilitate the development for future Amtrak projects as well as extend the No. 7 subway from Times Square to West 34^th street. The High Line will also be extended west into the development as the third and final section of the abandoned overhead New York Central Railway, turned elevated park, becomes the southern border of the development.

The project is a joint venture between the Related Companies and Oxford Property Group. Earlier this year, they announced that L’Oreal USA, SAP and Coach will be some of the first companies to call Hudson Yards home.  Since that announcement, Fairway Market announced they will be the anchor food market for the project and Time Warner has a tentative deal to move their headquarters to the project.

For more information about Hudson Yards link to these resources:

Hudson Yards – the official site of the development

Hudson YardsDevelopment Corporation – the agency that is coordinating the implementation

And for some press, link to these articles:

Bloomberg: HudsonYards Offer Hot Market, Banal Towers, Curvy Condos

Curbed:  Hudson Yards Tenants Await the Areas Redevelopment

Here are two videos of the project:

Hudson Yards - Look Up:

Hudson Yards - Look Up from visualhouse on Vimeo.

Hudson Yards Arrives:



Here is a third video from Fortune Magazine: