NEW YORK CITY — Related Cos. and OMERS Investment have teamed up to build Hudson Yards, a 26-acre mixed-use development that is expected to be the centerpiece of midtown Manhattan’s Central Business District expansion. Hudson Yards is reported to cost approximately $15 billion, according to multiple news sources. The site was once a rail yard and the largest single piece of undeveloped property in Manhattan.
The partnership kicked off Hudson Yards’ construction on Tuesday by breaking ground on the 1.7 million-square-foot South Tower, a 47-story office building located at the northeast corner of 10th Avenue and 30th Street in Manhattan. Upon completion, Coach Inc., the New York City-based designer and maker of luxury handbags, will occupy nearly 740,000 square feet in the building to use as its global headquarters.
“Coach continues to expand both in America and around the world, underscoring the need for a new global headquarters that is as modern and dynamic as the brand itself,” says Lew Frankfort, chairman and CEO of Coach Inc. “New York is part of Coach’s DNA and we are as bullish on the revitalization of the Hudson Yards neighborhood as we are on the unparalleled vibrancy and future of New York City.”
Hudson Yards is the largest private development in New York City since Rockefeller Center. The development will span more than 13 million square feet, including 6 million square feet of commercial space.
In addition to South Tower, Related and OMERS have plans to develop the 2.4 million-square-foot North Tower, an office building located at the southwest corner of Tenth Avenue and 33rd Street. The South and North towers will be connected by a major retail complex.
Hudson Yards will include the two office towers, 750,000 square feet of destination retail space, approximately 5,000 residences, a new public school and a luxury hotel. Plans are also under way for a new nonprofit cultural facility.
Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates designed South Tower to achieve LEED Gold certification. The South Tower is slated for a 2015 completion and is expected to generate nearly 23,000 construction jobs. More than 40,000 people are anticipated to work or live in Hudson Yards.
“This project will be the largest private sector creator of union construction jobs for our members,” says Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York. “We could not be more pleased to bring the training, skill and quality that comes with union labor in the building and construction trades to this great addition to New York City’s skyline.”
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was present at the groundbreaking ceremony, where attendees witnessed the drilling of the first caissons that will anchor the South Tower.
“Developing Manhattan’s final frontier is the next major step in our city’s ongoing economic revival,” says Mayor Bloomberg.
The nearby High Line is in its final phase and the new Hudson Park and Boulevard is now complete, making Hudson Yards very practical from a transportation point of view. Additionally, the No. 7 subway line to West 34th street is slated to open in 2014, which will bring the subway to the heart of Hudson Yards neighborhood.
In 2010, Oxford Properties Group, the real estate investment/development arm of the OMERS Worldwide group of companies, teamed up with Related as general partners in the development. Related and Oxford signed a contract in May 2010 with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) for the 13 million square feet of development rights at Hudson Yards.
“The groundbreaking of the Hudson Yards today shows the strength of New York City’s real estate market,” says Manhattan Borough president Scott Stringer. “Through partnership and perseverance, the city has taken a literal 'hole in the ground’ and turned it into the future home of New York’s premiere retail and office space.”
— John Nelson