[NYguy]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...131033788.html

Manhattan Megaproject Set to Rise





October 22, 2012
By ELIOT BROWN

Construction is set to begin on the first stage of a $15 billion city-within-a-city that aims to reshape Manhattan's desolate far West Side, kicking off the largest privately funded office development in the U.S. since the economic downturn. New York developer Related Cos. has assembled a new group of financial backers and said it plans to break ground in November on the initial 46-story office tower of the 26-acre Hudson Yards project, a sign that the dormant market for U.S. commercial development is showing early signs of life. "This will be the Rockefeller Center—the heart of the city—for the 21st century," said Stephen Ross, Related's chairman. "We are going to build a truly world-class site."

Lenders including Bank of America Corp. have tentatively committed to finance a construction loan of roughly $400 million for the initial 1.7-million-square-foot tower at the Hudson Yards site, according to real-estate executives briefed on the plans. In addition, a Middle Eastern sovereign-wealth fund agreed to invest with Related and its Canadian pension plan-backed partner, Oxford Properties Group, on the $1.2 billion building, the executives said.

Related is trying to finalize deals with its partners by year-end. The talks are far enough advanced, according to Related and others involved in the project, that the company feels comfortable starting on the first building, which it hopes to finish by 2015.

For future phases, the costs grow and the schedule may again be thrown off by the economy. Related needs to build an $800 million platform over half the rail yards for the second phase, and another platform for the third phase. Related would start the second phase if it secures a large tenant. Mr. Ross said the company is "far along" in talks with such companies. Last year, the developer struck a deal with handbag maker Coach Inc. to take office space in more than one-third of the first tower. Still, it was unclear at the time whether Related would be able to start work as planned, given that since the downturn, construction lending has been slow for all building except rental apartments.

Since then, Related and its advisers at CBRE Group Inc. have attracted more tenants. This month, the chairman of cosmetics company L'Oréal gave his blessing to a plan to move the company's Manhattan offices to the tower, said executives familiar with the decision. L'Oréal is negotiating with Related for a lease for more than 400,000 square feet. German software giant SAP AG is in talks to take more than 100,000 square feet, those executives said. Representatives of both companies declined to comment.

A few permits filed for 501 W. 30th Street - the Coach tower...

http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/Jo...ssdocnumber=02

STRUCTURAL WORK ASSOCIATED WITH NEW BUILDING AS SHOWN ON DRAWINGS FILED HEREWITH.


http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/Jo...ssdocnumber=03

MECHANICAL WORK ASSOCIATED WITH NEW BUILDING AS SHOWN ON DRAWINGS FILED HEREWITH.


http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/Jo...ssdocnumber=04

SUPPORT OF EXCAVATION ASSOCIATED WITH NEW BUILDING AS SHOWN ON DRAWINGS FILED HEREWITH.


http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/Jo...ssdocnumber=05

FOUNDATION WORK ASSOCIATED WITH NEW BUILDING AS SHOWN ON DRAWINGS FILED HEREWITH.




http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...rja60nxs1u0fjL

MTA: Related eyes Hudson deal tweak

By STEVE CUOZZO
October 23, 2012

Related Cos. is trying to change the terms of its long-awaited deal with the MTA at Hudson Yards, even as the developer is closing in on a second major office lease for the first tower it plans to build. Terms call for Related to close first on a deal with the MTA for the eastern yard — between 10th and 11th avenues — followed by closing on the western portion one year later.

But while Related and financial partner Oxford Properties Group can do preliminary excavation at the site, they can’t actually start building until the MTA lease is signed. Yesterday, Related officials, who didn’t wish to be named, said they hoped to wrap it up by year’s end, while denying they wanted to change financial or contractual terms.

Meanwhile, sources said German multinational software giant SAP is in advanced talks for a large block of space at the Coach tower. It would be a second major leasing milestone for the Kohn Pedersen Fox-designed skyscraper.

SAP last summer overtook Siemens as Germany’s most valuable publicly traded company, with a $75 billion market valuation. Sources said Related and SAP are moving toward a term sheet, an agreement on major economic terms that usually, but not always, results in a signed lease. SAP would have less than Coach’s 750,000-square-foot share of the 1.7-million-square-foot tower. But it would be a significant lease of several hundred thousand square feet, sources said.