NEW YORK CITY — Brookfield Office Properties Inc. (NYSE: BPO) has kicked off construction of the platform for the $4.5 billion Manhattan West Development site on Ninth Avenue between West 31st and West 33rd streets and Dyer Avenue in Manhattan.
Manhattan West will be a 5 million-square-foot, mixed-use development including two 60-story LEED Gold office towers, a residential tower, large public gathering spaces, shops and restaurants.
The platform will consist of a series of 16 bridges and will complete the surface on which the entire development will sit. The total site is five acres, of which the platform will occupy 60 percent. Construction of the platform is slated for completion in 2014, and the Manhattan West project is scheduled to receive tenants in 2016.
“Brookfield is thrilled to have kicked off construction on our premier development on the west side of Manhattan,” says Dennis Friedrich, CEO of Brookfield Office Properties.
“With today’s groundbreaking, we’re taking a major step forward in the transformation and rebirth of the far west side of Manhattan,” continues New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The platform will be located above a rail yard and will be launched with $340 million of financing in place. A bank group including HSBC Bank, The Bank of New York Mellon, The Toronto-Dominion Bank, U.S. Bank, The Bank of Nova Scotia and Wells Fargo Bank funded the five-year loan. Also, Brookfield will invest approximately $340 million of its own capital with no public subsidies for the platform construction.
“I’m thrilled that construction of Manhattan West is beginning and that we will soon bring the residential, cultural and retail energy of so many city neighborhoods, as well as convenient transportation infrastructure, to what is currently an underutilized rail yard,” says New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
Construction of the platform is expected to generate around 600 construction jobs, which will generate approximately $52.7 million in employee compensation and $4.7 million in tax revenue for New York City and the State of New York. New York-based Turner Construction is managing the platform installation and Parsons Transportation is providing railroad and civil engineer services.
Construction of the towers and retail space will create approximately 18,168 jobs, which will generate approximately $1.6 billion in employee compensation and $173.7 million in tax revenue for the city, state and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
Brookfield has an agreement with Amtrak and the MTA/Long Island Rail Road, which hold easements through Brookfield’s land for the site. Excavation and rock drilling have been under way for the past three months.
Cushman & Wakefield is handling the leasing assignment for Manhattan West, and Brookfield has been in discussion with potential tenants in the technology, media, entertainment, financial services and professional services sectors. Construction on the office towers will begin once an anchor tenant is secured.
The project will offer views of New York City and the Hudson River. It’s also within walking distance from Penn Station, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, several subway stations and High Line, the elevated park that runs from 34th Street to the Meatpacking District along 10th Avenue.
Additionally, Manhattan West will be located across from Moynihan Station, the new train hall in the Farley Post Office building that will expand and improve Penn Station. The site for Moynihan Station is under construction and is scheduled for a 2015 completion.
“Manhattan West will serve as the bridge between Chelsea and the Midtown central business district, providing a pedestrian-friendly way to get from Penn Station to the High Line and to the Hudson River,” says Brookfield’s Friedrich. “The open space will be a recreated grand 32nd Street, 100 feet wide, leading from Ninth Avenue to Dyer Avenue then south toward the spur of the High Line. It will be an amenity for the neighborhood — and for the city.”
The project is also adjacent to another Brookfield-owned property, 450 West 33rd Street. According to Friedrich, Manhattan West will be the gateway project for the Hudson Yards district.
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill is the master plan architect for the project, which is working in partnership with SLCE Architects on the residential portion. Field Operations, the design firm behind High Line, will design Manhattan West’s outdoor public space.
Brookfield has developed more than 4.3 million square feet of office space in the U.S., Canada and Australia. Additionally, the company has recently established a development platform in London.
Brookfield’s stock price closed Tuesday at $16.93 per share, up from $16.53 per share a year ago.
— John Nelson