NEW YORK | 1 Manhattan West | 995 FT | 71 FLOORS

[scalziand]

I'd hesitate to demo 450 because of the massive floorplates it offers, but it does need an arcade once Manhattan West is completed so the Hudson Yards have a better connection to Penn Station.

And some sort of reclad.

[WestSideGuy]

Temporary deck has been completely installed. The yellow portion looks to be part of the construction of The Launcher

[sbarn]

^^ Looks like they installed it upside down!?

[NYguy]

View from the track...

( JUNE 28, 2013 )

[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...4mQDVtVykrB1SO

Brookfield is rising on rails




BOARD FEAT: Brookfield’s long-awaited ManhattanWest platform over the Amtrak rail yard is becoming a reality.


By STEVE CUOZZO
July 2, 2013

As Time Warner nears a deal with Related Cos. to move its headquarters to Hudson Yards, Brookfield Office Properties has started major construction of a 120,000-square-foot deck over the Amtrak rail yard for its Manhattan West project.

Time Warner’s tentative plan to move to a new tower at Related’s site, first reported in the Wall Street Journal, would be momentous, allowing a second tower to go up that’s even larger than the one Related is building for Coach.

But, even before it lands a tenant or starts a building, Brookfield’s deck is meaningful too — the first platform over the yards between Ninth and Twelfth avenues after years of promises by both developers.

The photo on this page shows a just-completed temporary platform spanning the train yard from north to south on the Brookfield 5-acre site’s western edge adjacent to Dyer Avenue between West 31st and 33rd streets. Manhattan West lies slightly east of Related’s much larger site.

The temporary platform will support a “launcher” that will receive prefab concrete slabs from an adjacent staging area along the West 31st Street side. The slabs will then be assembled into 16 “bridges,” which the launcher will slide into place above the yard one at a time.

The deck is to be completed by the end of 2014. Brookfield announced plans for a deck in 2006, but held it up over economic issues and site-plan changes.

The Brookfield and Related projects are, by far, the largest that are being planned for the Hudson Yards District — and they are the centerpieces of Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s dream to create a new commercial and residential community in the far West 30s.

Both need platforms over the rail yard 65 feet below street level — not to support buildings (which will be anchored in bedrock on the yard floor and rise through the decks), but to establish a suitable environment for office and residential tenants.

As Brookfield CEO Dennis Friedrich told us and we first reported in January, the publicly traded company is financing the full platform with $300 million of its own capital and a $340 million construction loan.

Manhattan West is a $4.5 billion complex to include two new office towers, one residential tower and a 1.5-acre public plaza. The platform will likely make it easier for Brookfield to find commercial tenants.

Meanwhile, Related has yet to start building a deck over its 26-acre site.

[mkeit]

Several sections of the launching girder have been delivered to the site. They are about 10x15x40' long.

[ardecila]

So how does this work? The towers have their cores to either side of the platform, and cantilever out over it? The tower footprints obviously will hang over the platform, so if they're not supported by it, there must be a cantilever.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by ardecila

So how does this work? The towers have their cores to either side of the platform, and cantilever out over it? The tower footprints obviously will hang over the platform, so if they're not supported by it, there must be a cantilever.

good question. i would guess no cantilevering. tower supports can reach the bedrock between train tracks. again, just a guess. if anybody knows for sure do tell.

[ardecila]

Right, but if they can build supports between tracks, why is Brookfield spending $680M building a platform that is a clear span with zero columns?

[j-biz]

Here's a view from a few floors up at W 31st and Dyer. Photo by me.

[scalziand]

The towers are going to be entirely on solid ground-no cantilevering or anything required. There's plenty of room on either side of the tracks for the towers.

[Tectonic]

Some interesting engineering here.

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by scalziand

The towers are going to be entirely on solid ground-no cantilevering or anything required. There's plenty of room on either side of the tracks for the towers.

does that mean most of the platform that is over the tracks will be the public plaza?

[scalziand]

Pretty much.

[fimiak]

Can't build a supertall on thin air!

[mrnyc]

this afternoon

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

does that mean most of the platform that is over the tracks will be the public plaza?

Specifically..

Brookfield CEO Dennis Friedrich corrected a misperception about Manhattan West and the platform going up over the rail yards. The two new towers, which will total 5M SF, will be anchored in bedrock.

The platform is just for the common areas (so take that to your cocktail parties and spread the word). The platform will deliver in 2014, and the first square feet—office and residential—will come online in '16 or '17·

[Perklol]

Will they have a tenant by said date? I think they should just build residential towers...

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

Will have a tenant by said date? I think they should just build residential towers...

I'm sure they will because parts of the structure that are designed for office just can't become residential space without modification. They will want office too for the $ that rents generate as well.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

Will have a tenant by said date? I think they should just build residential towers...

Residential towers can go up anywhere in Manhattan. There are limited sites for commercial towers of this size, which this site is specifically zoned for. Not all of New York has to be built in a day.