NEW YORK | 30 Hudson Yards (North Tower) | 1,296 FT | 92 FLOORS
 

Taken from the Hudson Yards thread:


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...googlenews_wsj
Work Set on West Side Rail Yard

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/i...1215211239.jpg
Development firm Related Cos. is awarding a contract to demolish a 60,000-square-foot building as part of work on the West Side rail yards, above.

By ELIOT BROWN
December 16, 2010

awesome!!!!! :D

http://www.hydc.org/html/project/mta-rail.shtml

Eastern Rail Yard
The eastern portion of the rail yard is an approximately 13-acre site located between West 30th and West 33rd Streets from 10th to 11th Avenues. The ERY was rezoned in January 2005 to accommodate approximately 6.6 million gross square feet of mixed-use development, including office, residential, hotel, retail, cultural and parking facilities, and public open space. The zoning controls for the site require approximately 7 acres of public open space, including a significant public plaza. Additionally, it is anticipated that development of the ERY will include a major new cultural facility. The High Line connects to the southern edge of the site.


Western Rail Yard
The western portion of the rail yard is an approximately 13 acre site located between West 30th and West 33rd Streets from 11th to 12th Avenues. The WRY was rezoned in December 2009 to accommodate approximately 6 million gross square feet of mixed-use development, including office, residential, hotel, retail, cultural and parking facilities, and public open space. The developer has also made a commitment to build up a minimum of 265 permanently affordable rental units on the WRY, and an additional minimum of 166 permanently affordable units on either the WRY or ERY, in either rental or condominium buildings, for a total of 431 permanently affordable units. The High Line connects to the southern and western edges of the WRY.

The future development of both the Eastern and Western Rail Yards will require the construction of a platform over the active LIRR operations.


http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1041511.jpg

Closer overall look at the site plan being developed by Related:


http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1041512.jpg



I believe the first tower to be site labeled EC1

http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1041513.jpg

It was reported a few weeks ago that the New York-based, handbag/shoe maker, Coach, is negotiating with Related for 600,000 sf of space in a new tower at the Hudson Yards.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...8I6Eta9S92mOmK



Related woos Coach
Related eyes Coach bags

November 30, 2010

Steve Cuozzo

Stephen M. Ross's Related Cos. has a leathery catch on the line for its planned Hudson Yards development project -- New York-based luxury goods maker Coach, Inc.

Sources told us booming Coach is prowling for up to 600,000 square feet of office space on the West Side for a new corporate home. "Coach has been exchanging paper" with Related regarding Hudson Yards as well as with other landlords in the area, the sources said.

Publicly-traded Coach was founded here in 1941. Its leather bags, accessories and other products are sold at 400 stores in the US and Canada, including eight in Manhattan. But few shoppers know that Coach is also a big office-space user.

The company owns its 265,000-square-foot headquarters building at 516 W. 34th St., which it once used for manufacturing and where it still maintains a small factory to produce samples.

It also has a few hundred thousand square feet at 450 W. 33rd St. and at a smaller building on 34th Street. "Now, they've outgrown their premises," a source explained.

There's no letter of intent for Hudson Yards, at least not yet. But a source described the Related talks as "still a work in progress but very serious." Financially strong Coach currently has around $1 billion in cash on its balance sheet to play with.

The 26-acre Hudson Yards site bounded by 10th and 12th avenues between West 30th-33rd Streets -- most of it above the West Side rail yard -- is to be developed by Related and OMERS, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System. Last May, Related signed a deal with the MTA to lease the site for 99 years, with the partners putting in a $21.75 million deposit.

The project is eventually to include 21 million square feet of development. The master plan calls for three corporate headquarters sites, 5,000 apartments in nine buildings, "destination" retail, a luxury hotel, a new public school, cultural facilities and 12 acres of public open space.

It was understood last night that Coach and Related weren't focused only on one of the office sites, but were exploring "options" at all three.

The MTA/Related deal is contingent on several economic-climate yardsticks. As is typical of such public-private arrangements, it's full of escape clauses and trap doors allowing either side a way out. Moreover, Related must first build a platform over the tracks.

But Related has said previously that with a tenant, work could start as early as 2012. And, if history proves anything, nothing can get a huge project off the ground -- and make all the issues go away -- like a tenant commitment.



Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...#ixzz18HynD1Yt

Yeah, that was posted over in the Hudson Yards thread. I'm sure they're one of the dozen potential tenants, and i'm not surprised by any of it.

Meanwhile, here's the "illustrative" rendering of the railyards development. It can be misleading, because the buildings actually haven't been designed yet.
But what it does is give a window into how the development is planned to be built out.


http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1041863.jpg



However, the buildings shown are on the lower end of the spectrum, not a true indication of the potential height of the towers.
For that, I've taken the potential numbers from the EIS of the western yards (I don't have the eastern yards in front of me)
to give a better representation of potential heights.

http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1041864.jpg



And here's the rendering with the location of the first office tower to be built marked, which will be on the eastern yards.

http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1041865.jpg

Sweet development. I wish we had that here in T.O. I especially like those two neo-Deco towers in the front and the modernist slab to their right. The glass towers? Not so much.

well none of that will be built,its just a conceptual rendering

From that last rendering it shows how this will be a city within a city.

I hope they would design a 2000ft supertall as a signature tower for the Hudson Yards Project.

Now there's an idea! :banana: :whip: :whip: :banana:

It would have been nice to have a distinctive supertall buuilt there that would break through the skyline, Oh well.

I'm not hoping for a 2000 foot tall building, but something with a little more vision then this. At least a "signature office tower." The ones proposed now are uninspiring and just plain dull. The residential buildings look fine to me, and I'm glad they differ (at least conceptually).

Practicality is more important to the developer and tenant rather than building a trophy.

So many towers it's difficult to keep track of it all :)

What's the giant turd pyramid building that I think MTA has to do with as well as the NYP if I'm not mistaken? Is there no plan to redevelop this building? Has to be one of the worst structures in all of Manhattan.

Haven’t heard any revitalization plans about this building; I doubt anything is in the pipeline. The good news is that it’ll be buried with all the new development surrounding it.

I see. Yes, it would've helped had I actually read the post first.:duh

That tower has zoning for 3.1 million square feet of space, and will eventually be redeveloped.

A few years ago, the previous owners (Monday Properties) floated a couple of designs that included a massive tower above the existing structure.

The towers shown above in post 7 are just place holders. No final designs for any of the towers have been released, so there's plenty of time to change some elements of those largely glass boxes to make them more interesting. I'm just happy that this is showing an increasing amount of life.

A signature tower or two was actually one of the requirements of the railyards site planning. But keep in mind that there will be 1,000 + ft towers directly north of this and we have yet to see any designs for the railyard towers.

However, I do expect the concept of Related's office towers (3 overall) to be similar to the Time Warner Center. There will be a large retail base, followed by offices, and finally topped by residential (25 floors of residential for the first tower).

Related's original site plan for the railyards...


http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/90554064/large.jpg



http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/89337909/original.jpg



http://www.pbase.com/nyguy/image/90554073/original.jpg

Robert A.M. Stern is designing the new office tower. I have not seen a rendering though and don't know if a design has been produced.

http://www.globest.com/news/1812_181.../305414-1.html

Related Gets Start on Hudson Yards Site

By Paul Bubny
December 16, 2010

In retrospect I’m glad that Related got behind this project; they just seem like they have their act together.

I have a feeling that the owners of the Empire State Building would complain even more now with 15 Penn Plaza and the Hudson Yards Projects designed as supertalls. The view of the Empire State Building would be blocked now.

i doubt it, if city council would back Malkin for one tower why would they back his argument and stop New York's last frontier for commerce from commencing?

Exactly.........city leaders would not want business/jobs to go elsewhere.

These buildings would be further away, 15 Penn Plaza is much closer to the ESB. But the ESB's owner (Malkin) complained because the City had to give the 15 Penn Plaza tower a bonuse to make it larger. Everything in the Hudson Yards will be built as large as the City zoned it.

Hudson Yards is as-of-right. There's no needed city approvals. If a developer wants to build a super-tall, he can go right ahead.

The Vornado Penn Plaza tower required City Council approval, and so was a totally different situation. It sailed through quite easily, though. I don't think there was really much controversy. NYC is a media hothouse, and anything like this will generate press from naysayers, but it doesn't mean that something like this was super-controversial.

http://newyorkrealestate.citybizlist...velopment.aspx

Site Work Begins on 26-Acre Site Hudson Yards Development

December 19, 2010

A few more generic renderings taken from the website...


http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602...rformance=true


This rendering shows where the High Line meets the High Line spur, as well as the Cultural building that will be a part of the site (left, more on that later).
The large base would be the first tower.

http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1045213.jpg


Looking east on 33rd over the plaza and the Time Warner Center-like office and retail development.

http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1045214.jpg


Subway station (minus the former World Product Center proposal)

http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1045215.jpg


The office towers that form the eastern border will sit atop 5 levels of retail...

http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602...rformance=true



http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1045216.jpg


A hotel will also be on site, just south of Extell's former WPC site...

http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602...rformance=true


And a generic view of the development...

http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1045218.jpg

related wants the highline spur removed. i heard them say so myself at a highline meeting. it's something to keep a vigilant eye on. otherwise, glad to hear this almost unbelievably massive project is officially underway! :cheers:

Thanks for the update. I always forget how incredibly massive this development truly is. The towers in the last photo are huggeeeee, 1 Penn Plaza is a 750 footer and looks tiny. It's fantastic to see some actual work on this project has started or will very shortly. Us NYers are so spoiled.

As has been stated, the renders are very impressive. There is a lot to look forward to, not only with this development but all the others that will follow suit.

Woah, thats going to be New York? A whole other neighborhood! I'm all for it! :D It's great that this is also the ending to the High Line.

Also, the buildings depicted above are still just concepts not final designs?

And I noticed some Alexander Calder sculptures in those renderings. Just an observation.

The towers just look like massing models to obviously give an idea of height/skyline impact.

But my question here is this....

As this is the part of the Island that hasn't (till now apparently) built vertical owing almost exclusively to bedrock depth, what is the intended approach, particularly foundation-wise? Just digging really deep? Lighter superstructure material i.e., aluminum?

Sorry to steer the thread like this; but I am interested in knowing..and being corrected if I'm wrong ;).

Actually that answer would be laying 8,000 miles away in Tokyo, Japan. In Tokyo the bedrock is 1 mile and a half feet down. So instead of digging to bedrock, and they are building in a earthquake zone they would bore several holes into the ground and pour concrete into them, then they would pour a solid concrete layer on top, and in total it would be as strong as bedrock itself.

Watch the clip below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vOtS...eature=related

This site is mostly a rail yard (well below grade; basically a trench).

So the reason it hasn't been developed is because it doesn't really exist yet.

Also, the entire neighborhood had the wrong zoning. Developers have been sitting on land for many years, just waiting for the neighborhood to be rezoned.

As for foundations, modern day engineering can build a skyscraper anywhere. Bedrock isn't really important. If anything, it makes skyscraper construction more expensive.

Exactly Thank You.

Right, also there's a discussion on construction methods in the FEIS.



They're still concepts at this point. If you look at both renderings in that quote, you'll notice they're not even the same. There will be some form of sculpture around the site. But that last rendering with the Cultural building did answer one question I had about the site.



I wouldn't see the loss of the spur as a total loss, as long as the high line itself remained. I do though, recall at some point talk of taking down the spur and replacing it with another connection. But as long as there are connections to street level, it's not as important.

http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1045213.jpg

Since Related had the easter yards rezoned to include a tower west of the cultural building, I wasn't sure if the planned design would fit on site. But from some of the renderings, it seems it will. It will be west of the first tower.

The "Culture Shed" has the ability to grow...

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com...pload_id=14405

Shed? Make way for a new breed of art space

http://static.worldarchitecturenews....reShed1000.jpg

Few more pics from Observer.com


http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1051846.jpg



http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1051847.jpg



http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1051848.jpg

These towers, while not final designs, are disappointing nonetheless. It seems that these buildings will be in the 700 to 800 foot range.

That tower on the first render is pretty much as bad as 1 Penn Plaza. The second ones are meh. The third one is actually awesome.

^ That first tower is to be topped by about 25 floors of residential space, so it won't be as squat and blocky as the rendering makes it out to be.

Well, if you base it on those renderings, you are quite right. However, I speifically marked the potential heights to give an indication on how off the renderings actually are
in terms of height. The office towers on the eastern yards will be higher than the towers of the western yards, which are marked. No buildings are designed, but the
renderings are meant to give an indication on how the devepment would be built out. In that sense, it's very accurate.

http://www.bluemelon.com/photo/18602/1041864.jpg


And Merry Christmas everyone....:cheers:

It seems that the best hopes for very tall towers are on the sites that are adjacent to -- but not included in -- the Yards. Developers will build every square inch that they're entitled to and each site.

I was always under the impression that it was pretty certain that there would be several supertalls at least in some places on the west side

Isn't it kind of early to say there wouldnt' be?


After the WTC/ carnegie 57/ Penn plaza all go up it will hopefully shut the NIMBYS up and spur more very tall developments

I agree, and that's what I mentioned above. There are a number of sites adjacent to the Yards on which 1,000+ foot towers can rise.