Hudson Yards so needs to vent
THE
delay in building a platform over the western rail yard isn’t the only hold-up at Hudson Yards.
The 28-acre complex’s eastern half opened in March. But, as we reported last week, Stephen Ross’ Related Companies and Oxford Partners can’t start work on a deck over the exposed western train yard until their plans are approved by the Long Island Rail Road — which the developers are still waiting on a year after they submitted them.
Now, it turns out that other structural issues stand in the way as well.
Related, the LIRR and Amtrak are in what a source called a “stalemate” over
where to relocate LIRR venting units that must be moved for Amtrak to build the final leg of a “box tunnel” to connect Penn Station with Gateway, the proposed new tunnel under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey.
The box tunnel will run beneath the western yard’s southern edge. Although the deck can be built ahead of the box tunnel, which is waiting on funds, everything’s so interlocked that some officials fear unpredictable delays if engineering issues aren’t resolved.
Insiders have conflicting takes on the situation. The confusion isn’t helped by the participants’ refusal to speak on the record.
Some sources claim that relocating the LIRR vents could get in the way of building parts of the platform. That means Related might not be able to finish the deck even after it starts.
But other, equally wellplaced sources say that the vents won’t be an issue — “it’s just up to Related and Amtrak to coordinate,” one said.
The time frame for the box tunnel itself is unknown because, to build it, Amtrak needs $420 million in federal funds as part of a larger package of dough for the $12.5 billion Gateway — but the request is tied up in Washington.
Gateway Development Corp. spokesman Stephen
Sigmund said the concrete casing for the box tunnel “is fully designed and ready to build. All of the partners are working together to get this section funded and constructed as quickly and cost effectively as possible.”
FiDi landlords are celebrating the area’s biggest mid-year office leasing total since 2000 — about 3.8 million square feet, according to new data from CBRE reported by the New York City Downtown Alliance. Among the highlights:
Relocations to FiDi from uptown accounted for 23 percent of all secondquarter leasing, including four large moves from Midtown South.
The bulk of the leasing involved two giant deals at 55 Water St., including Justworks’ move from the Starrett-Lehigh Building to 270,000 square feet at 55 Water.
Overall average asking rent increased slightly — by 0.2 percent, to $63.40 per square foot, according to Cushman & Wakefield. The discount over Midtown’s average of $76.56 was one driver of the downtown boom.
MassMutual has signed for 22,000 square feet for 10 years at Marx Realty’s 10 Grand Central, the Ely Jacques Kahn-designed office tower previously known as 708 Third Ave.
It’s the latest advance for the property where Marx recently spent $48 million to move the entrance off the avenue onto East 44th Street and to create a new lobby, lounge, outdoor terrace and conference space.
The MassMutual lease brings the 405,000-squarefoot tower to 91 percent occupied, up from 78 percent just one year ago. Recent signings include Agence France-Presse, 23 Capital and Everside Capital Partners.
Only 34,000 square feet are still available. Marx CEO Craig Deitelzweig credited the leasing boom to the building’s “proximity to Grand Central Terminal and game-changing design sensibility.”
Asking rents range from $72 to $120 per square foot. Related Companies and development partner Hudson Companies just topped off Riverwalk Park on Roosevelt Island, a 21-story rental apartment building on Main Street that will have 340 new affordable housing units. Opening is set for 2021. It’s the eighth building by Related and Hudson and the first newly built and permanently affordable one on the island.
Riverwalk Park will have a mix of studios and units of one to three bedrooms available to families with household incomes ranging from 40 percent to 165 percent of median area income. Applications will start in 2020 through Housing Connect, the city’s housing lottery system.
Income-based rents start as low as $505 for a studio and go up to $3,431 for a three-bedroom.