http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/re...ref=realestate
Square Feet | The 30-Minute Interview
Tommy CraigPublished: November 10, 2011
Interview conducted and condensed by
VIVIAN MARINO
Q What does your job at Hines entail?
A My principal role is to think about value-creation opportunities, to manage risk, and to really advance the firm’s reputation in New York.
...
Q How many projects are you working on now? A We’re just finishing a project in the village, One Jackson Square.
We’re working on 1045 Sixth, our Bryant Park project. We’re working on the MoMA mixed-use project; and for that project we just secured a special permit and are now actively engaged with prospective equity partners. We have a fourth project that we’ve just been selected on in Lower Manhattan for a residential project — 56 Leonard.
Q Tell me more about Bryant Park.
A We just announced that in the last 60 days. It’s a project that we’re doing in partnership with Pacolet Milliken Enterprises. We created a design, secured control of the site and we’re now moving forward to secure an equity partner, which we expect to do by the end of the year.
We’re actively leasing, working with CBRE, and
we hope to be in a position to begin below-grade work next year. If we’re under way next year, we can deliver occupancy by year end 2014.
We think of it as a boutique-scale office building — 28 stories — and we think that’s actually its great strength. It’s under 500,000 feet, it’s in Midtown so it’s a real counterpoint to other projects. It will offer users in the size of 150,000 to 250,000 feet an identity and a presence.
Q How would you say the New York market was faring?
A
The New York market on a comparative basis has the strongest fundamentals of any market in the country. The strength in the capital markets would be hard to overstate. There’s been very positive job growth this year. A long-term outlook of
New York continues to favor it in ways that very few other cities can compare, mostly because it is really a destination for talent around the globe. We haven’t seen a major user leave New York for over 15 years....