NEW YORK—With the topping off a month ago of 10 Hudson Yards, one of five towers that will change the cityscape dramatically, the mega-master-planned community from Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group on Manhattan’s West Side is one step closer to reality.
Years in the making, the 28-acre Hudson Yards development will “overnight” create a new, mixed-use neighborhood, in effect a city within a city.
The Yards development takes its name from its location. In order to see it to fruition, two platforms will bridge more than 30 active Long Island Rail Road train tracks; three subsurface rail tunnels utilized by Amtrak and New Jersey Transit; and a fourth passageway, the Gateway tunnel.
Located at 30th St. and 10th Ave., 10 Hudson Yards will house luxury companies such as Coach Inc., and L’Oréal USA, as well as VaynerMedia and SAP, and is expected to welcome tenants next year.
“Projects that change the face of a city take passionate, committed teamwork to succeed,” according to Blake Hutcheson, CEO of Oxford Properties Group.
Slated to open in phases with completion in 2024, the massive project will include some 17 million sq. ft. of residential and commercial space. It also will debut the city’s first Neiman Marcus and a signature restaurant from noted chef Thomas Keller, along with more than 100 restaurants and shops within the community.
Adding to the crafted neighborhood ambiance will be some 5,000 residences, cultural space, a 750-seat public school, 14 acres of open public space and a 200-room Equinox-branded hotel.
The hotel will be part of 35 Hudson Yards, a 1.1-million-sq.-ft. mixed-use tower—the Yard’s
tallest residential tower at 1,000 ft.—at the corner
of 33rd St. and 11th Ave. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and David Childs, it will feature 137 residences; office and retail space; and a 60,000-sq.-ft. Equinox fitness club and spa, all surrounded by parks, playgrounds and access to the High Line. The 11-story luxury hotel, which will feature a ballroom, sky lobby, a variety of restaurants, bars, meeting spaces and event venues, also will be adjacent the new No. 7 subway station, with direct access to transportation hubs in Times Square and Grand Central Terminal.
Other hotels coming to the area include Aloft New York Chelsea North. The Starwood Hotels & Resorts brand property is expected to rise 18 stories at 450 11th Ave. (at West 37th St.) across from the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. A projected opening is for February 2018. Set to open earlier is the Four Points by Sheraton Manhattan Hudson Yards. The hotel is looking to debut next September at 444 10th Ave.
Hudson Yards is considered the largest development in New York City since Rockefeller Center, with more than 125,000 people a day expected work in, visit or live there, with 24 million expected to visit the community every year.
Three other major towers also are in the mix. On the corner of 30th St. and 11th Ave., 15 Hudson Yards will be the first residential building to open in 2018. It will feature designs from a firm well-known to hospitality and lodging: Rockwell Group. Led by David Rockwell, the company’s hotel projects, such as W hotels in New York, Paris and Singapore and the Yotel New York at Times Square, are numerous.
Rockwell Group created 15 Hudson Yards in tandem with Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and in collaboration with Ismael Leyva Architects. The 70-story building adjacent to the High Line will offer 391 for-sale and for-rent residences. The LEED Gold-designed structure
will be connected to Hudson Yards’ Culture Shed, a multipurpose venue that will host art, design and special events across seven levels of gallery and performance space.
At 33rd St. and 10th Ave., 30 Hudson Yards, designed by Bill Pedersen of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, will reportedly be the second-tallest office building in New York when completed in 2019. The 2.6-million-sq.-ft. LEED Gold-designed tower will feature a triple-height lobby, outdoor terraces and a direct underground connection to the No. 7 Subway station.
Entertainment and publishing conglomerate Time Warner Inc. reportedly already has acquired more than one million sq. ft. of office space in the tower, expecting to consolidate its HBO, CNN, Turner Broadcasting and Warner Bros. divisions under 30 Hudson Yards’ roof.
Another office tower involving Kohn Pedersen Fox is 55 Hudson Yards, where Hudson Yards, the High Line and Hudson Park and Blvd. meet, making it the southwestern anchor for the Hudson Yards community.
A joint venture, A. Eugene Kohn of KPF and architect Kevin Roche created the design concept for the 51-story, 1.3-million-sq.-ft. building, with KPF also serving as the design architect. Highlights include a lobby that opens onto a park and a 10th-floor terrace that overlooks it. Tenants can expect to move in by mid-2018.
Another aspect of the community will be The Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards, situated between towers 10 and 30. The one-million-sq.-ft. retail center, designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects, will offer a collection of leading brands through its 100-plus shops, including Neiman Marcus. Chef Keller is curating restaurants along with restaurateur and developer Kenneth Himmel, who also is president/CEO of Related Urban, the mixed-use division of Related Companies. Keller is said to be developing a new restaurant, adding to some dozen eateries that will open in 2018.
And, lest anyone think it’s just about concrete, steel and glass, Hudson Yards will include more
than six acres of public plazas and gardens on its eastern side. The Public Square was designed by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects in collaboration with Heatherwick Studio, and will be the setting for a variety of activities. Ultimately, Hudson Yards will be at the center of a collection of parks expected to run from Gansevoort St. downtown to Times Square.
Commenting on Hudson Yards’ momentum, Stephen M. Ross, chairman of Related Companies, noted, “With 10 million sq. ft. already under construction, we are well underway in forever changing New York’s skyline and creating a vibrant, new 24/7 community on the West Side.” HB