West Side Rail Yards

The Western Rail Yard (WRY)

Located at the heart of the Far West Side, the 13-acre WRY is bordered by West 30th and 33rd streets, between 11th and 12th avenues. The design guidelines for the WRY provide an overall framework for creating a cohesive development and permit approximately 5.7 million squ…  more

The Western Rail Yard (WRY)

Located at the heart of the Far West Side, the 13-acre WRY is bordered by West 30th and 33rd streets, between 11th and 12th avenues. The design guidelines for the WRY provide an overall framework for creating a cohesive development and permit approximately 5.7 million square feet (10 FAR) of residential and commercial development, requiring at least 20 percent of each. At least 20 percent of all rental units must be affordable, and the RFP includes a zoning bonus for the inclusion of permanent affordable housing. The developer of the WRY will be required to reserve space for a public school. A commitment to provide low-cost administrative space for community and cultural organizations is required. The guidelines also include requirements for open space, building height and form, and sustainability. The overall goal of the guidelines is to establish a world class urban environment with a vibrant mix of uses that is fully integrated with the surrounding Hudson Yards district. A key aspect of the guidelines is the provision of approximately five acres of public open space on the WSY site, including a large central open space stretching between 11th and 12th avenues leading to the Hudson River.

In addition to the affordability requirement for rental units developed at the WRY, the City will make $40 million available for the development of new affordable housing units off-site. The following locations are being considered for these off-site units:

- A site now occupied by an MTA parking lot on West 54th Street and 9th Avenue.
- A site over the Amtrak Empire line rail-cut near West 48th Street and 10th Avenue.

The Eastern Rail Yard (ERY)

The 13-acre Eastern Rail Yard (ERY) sits between 10th and 11th avenues from West 30th to 33rd streets. The ERY was re-zoned in January 2005 as part of the City?s Hudson Yards re-zoning, and allows for approximately 6.3 million square feet of mixed-use development (11 FAR), including office, residential, hotel, retail, cultural and parking facilities, and public open space. The zoning controls for the site require approximately seven acres of public open space, including a significant public plaza. The RFP also requires that 200,000 of the 6.3 MSF space be set aside by the developer for a major new cultural facility, to be selected by the ERY developer and the City.

The High Line borders the Caemmerer Yard on the south and west, and will factor into the development proposals for both the WRY and the ERY. In the RFP, the MTA expresses the goal of retaining the High Line if possible, and respondents are required to include alternative treatments of the High Line in their proposals to allow the MTA to assess the costs and land value effects associated with retention or removal.

The RFPs are available on the MTA's website at www.mta.info for public information and developer response. Respondents have 90 days to submit proposals, which will be evaluated by MTA staff and then reviewed by a selection committee appointed by MTA with HYDC representation as well. The recommended proposal(s) will then go to the MTA Board for consideration likely in February or March 2008.

Tishman Speyer is one of the leading owners, developers, operators, and fund managers of first-class real estate in the world, having managed a portfolio of assets since its inception of over 113 million square feet and more than 91,000 residential units in major metropolitan areas across the Unite…  more

Tishman Speyer is one of the leading owners, developers, operators, and fund managers of first-class real estate in the world, having managed a portfolio of assets since its inception of over 113 million square feet and more than 91,000 residential units in major metropolitan areas across the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia.

In large measure, we have achieved this position by recognizing opportunities where most others see only difficulties and then transforming these opportunities into assets of even greater value.

Our ability to do so is the result of a philosophy of approaching each property or project as a stand-alone business in order to create maximum value for both tenants and investors.

This philosophy, combined with a culture that encourages creativity and unconventional thinking across a variety of disciplines, has enabled Tishman Speyer to acquire, develop and manage a property portfolio representing over US$76 billion in total value since 1978.

BROOKFIELD PROPERTIES

PROPOSAL WITHDRAWN 02/26/2008

Brookfield’s plan uniquely has the stamp, look and feel of New York. It breaks up the super blocks using Manhattan's streets and avenues to integrate the new community into the city’s fabric seamlessly. The distinctive public open spa…  more

BROOKFIELD PROPERTIES

PROPOSAL WITHDRAWN 02/26/2008

Brookfield’s plan uniquely has the stamp, look and feel of New York. It breaks up the super blocks using Manhattan's streets and avenues to integrate the new community into the city’s fabric seamlessly. The distinctive public open space plan, which celebrates High Line Park, maximizes sunlight, views and variety of experience. The parks are above all accessible, inviting the public in to enjoy all Hudson Yards has to offer.

Our Hudson Yards plan emphasizes excellent and diverse architecture, designed by the best local and international talent. This is no one-vision-fits-all plan. Instead, imaginative, vigorous and inventive designs frame public open spaces and create a distinctly urban environment. Continuous street level retail and extensive cultural and public programming add to the quality of life. Individually inspired, the structures and site design collectively reflect the best of the greatest city in the world. "This is by any definition an enormous development opportunity, and one that in concept and plan also needs to be approached with enormous respect for detail, balance and sensitivity to surrounding communities. It needs to be bold, but also environmentally responsible, an economic engine and also a public gathering place and waterfront public park. These are the diverse elements we have brought together, working with the brightest talent available, to engage the future and extend and enhance the city." Richard B. Clark, President and CEO, Brookfield Properties Corporation "Our Hudson Yards plan simultaneously integrates seamlessly into the city, while creating an architecturally iconic and environmentally sustainable neighborhood. By continuing the city’s historic street grid, we ensure that our site will feel of its place and be accessible to all New Yorkers. Framing the numerous parks with a diverse and varied architecture creates an active street life and a welcoming, urban experience and establishes Hudson Yards as a natural extension of New York City." Gary Haney, Partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP Master Plan, Engineering, Design of Hudson Hall, One & Two Hudson Place.

EXTELL DEVELOPMENT COMPANY

Extell's Design Team, led by Steven Holl Architects, has designed a cohesive master plan for both the Eastern Rail Yards and Western Rail Yards that is both physically and technologically integrated.

Extell Development Company proposes to transform the Eastern Rail Yards and Western Rail Yards into a world-class, mixed-use, vibrant neighborhood that features world class architecture and inspiring public spaces designed by Steven Holl Architects, that is in harmony with the surrounding environment, and that both minimizes interference with LIRR operations and returns considerable financial value to the MTA. This last large undeveloped Midtown Manhattan site provides an unprecedented opportunity to create a new urban paradigm for the 21st century. While offering a high mixed-use density of 12 million square feet; Extell's proposed deck (Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/978,622 for a Method Of Building Over An Opening Via Incremental Launching) design maximizes public space and creates a porosity and openness for the site from all sides and approaches, connecting Midtown, the Chelsea Arts District, and the convention center with a grand public park open to the Hudson River; and its innovative structural system for spanning over the Rail Yards will minimize the impacts of development on the Caemmerer Yards and allow it to offer more for the right to develop.

DURST-VORNADO PARTNERSHIP

The Durst/Vornado proposal responds not only to the requirements
of the MTA but also anticipates the needs of the City – creating a world-class, sustainable urban environment that gives New Yorkers a vibrant new destination for living, working and recreation. Our vision is to create a real sense of place – a distinctive quality that entices people to live and work at the West Side Rail Yard. The project will include prestigious corporate addresses, but be equally welcoming to residents, neighbors and visitors looking to enjoy and discover the unique vantage points and secluded spaces that define the landscaped park area. Four commercial buildings will activate the site during the day, with residential buildings of varying scale, attractive retail, a cultural center and community spaces ensuring a vibrant 24-hour neighborhood. At the heart of the site is a 12-acre public open space offering multi-function plazas, lawns and quiet spaces. In addition to the tremendous views of the river, subtle changes in elevation at ground level create a dynamic weave of circulation systems, providing the pleasurable experience of being “in” the landscape one moment and then viewing it from “above”.The goal in creating the interplay of building and park at the West Side Rail Yard is not only to draw people to one or two destinations,
but also to encourage them to move through the site. INTRODUCTIONTo facilitate seamless movement a Skyline – a raised landscape and compliment to the High Line – carries pedestrians safely over 11th Avenue and allows them to hover over the landscape as they move toward a connection to the Hudson River Park.Connectivity is key to the success of the West Side Rail Yard, and for us goes beyond making it easy for pedestrians to access the site or completing the #7 subway line. To create a new and easy connection to the major transportation hub at Penn Station, we propose an automated people mover (APM) – a driverless system that will offer a roughly one-minute travel time to the West Side Yard for tens of thousands of people each day.The project will be a model of sustainable development and presents a unique and once in a lifetime opportunity to build a community using the latest high-performance and sustainable technology. Following the principles of PlaNYC, the development
will set new standards for open space, water quality, energy use, transportation and air quality Durst/Vornado is committed to ensuring that New York remains an affordable place for all New Yorkers. All rental units will follow
the 80/20 formula and in addition, we are working with organized labor to set-aside “Work Force Housing” to be made available to middle income households.

RELATED COMPANIES

A distinctive New York City neighborhood. A mix of architectural styles, characteristic of New York City’s skyline, will surround streets lined with shops, restaurants, galleries, arts and culture—in a community that features world-leading sustainability and extensive affordable housing.

A spectacular park destined to be New York City’s next great gathering place. With varied park and green spaces for relaxation and enjoyment, the park will unify the residential, commercial and retail structures and also link to the Hudson River waterfront, the exciting High Line district and the future Hudson Boulevard Park.

The global headquarters for the world’s most diverse media and entertainment company. NewsCorp Center will ensure that New York City is a twenty-first century world media capital and enlivens the Yards with movie screenings, presidential debates, NFL pre-game shows, concert series, news tickers and much more.

The Related/Goldman Sachs plan will dramatically transform this vast desolate space into a dynamic community that mixes residences with offices, hotels and retail, and vibrant street life—creating the texture and feel of a traditional NYC neighborhood. The Related/Goldman Sachs plan for the West Side Yards is not just about erecting tall buildings or bricks and mortar; it is about creating dynamic spaces to be used and enjoyed by residents and workers, and a celebrated destination for visitors from across the City, the region and the world.

TISHMAN SPEYER

Anchor tenant Morgan Stanley withdraws: 03/05/08

Our plan celebrates the High Line, restoring the abandoned rail structure to link West Chelsea and Greenwich Village with the Hudson Yards, the Javits Convention Center, and the Hudson River.

Retail-lined streets evocative of Rockefeller Center’s Channel Gardens invite pedestrians into the project. Extensive shopping and dining spaces will line the base of each building, creating a vibrant pedestrian environment around the site. Along 30th Street, a series of distinctive retail spaces beneath and alongside the High Line will activate area streets and form a natural relationship to the arts and culture district to the south.

A variety of world-class architects will design each individual building in our master plan.