Related Companies CEO Stephen Ross and President Jeff Blau were on hand at the official announcement that Coach would occupy about 600,000 square feet at the first building the developer plans to construct in its Hudson Yards project on the West Side. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, as well as executives from bag maker Coach, were present at the event at 30th Street and 11th Avenue this morning. CBRE brokers Mary Ann Tighe and Greg Tosko, represented Coach in the transaction. – Adam Pincus [more]

Click to expand the timeline

From the May issue: With 7.6 million square feet of commercial space under construction at the World Trade Center site, the New York City skyline may appear to be adding an unprecedented amount of office space. But a closer look shows that office builders were far busier in the previous periods of Manhattan history.

New Yorkers accustomed to cranes looming overhead might be surprised to hear that Manhattan commercial construction is in one of the slowest periods of the past century, according to a recent report by Newmark Knight Frank. In fact, Manhattan lost more office space than it gained in the aughts, according to the report, which details how the city’s commercial construction has ebbed and flowed over the past 100 years.

And even as commercial lending begins to rebound, experts say they don’t expect a huge burst of activity in the next few years, despite activity at the World Trade Center site and, eventually, Hudson Yards. [more]

Dan Tishman

From the May issue: Dan Tishman is vice chairman at AECOM Technology Corporation, and chairman and CEO of Tishman Construction Corporation, one of the country’s largest construction companies. Founded as Tishman Realty & Construction in 1898 by Julius Tishman, the company has overseen the building of mega-projects like the original World Trade Center, Madison Square Garden and Disney World’s Epcot Center. In 2010, Tishman Construction was sold to AECOM Technology Corporation, a global engineering and design firm, for $245 million. Currently the company is construction manager for the new 3.1 million-square-foot tower at One World Trade Center, and Dan Tishman is on the board of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. A leading environmentalist, he also chairs the board of the Natural Resources Defense Council. [more]

Dan Tishman

With proceeds from the $245 million sale of Tishman Construction last month, Dan Tishman has plans to push further into the hotel business, the Post reported. His family’s real estate business, Tishman Hotel & Realty, is a separate entity that includes the Westin New York at Times Square and the nearby InterContinental Hotel at 300 West 44th Street at 8th Avenue, which opened last month. “I think you will see more activity in that area,” Tishman said. “We’re heavily invested in hotels… We are extremely bullish on that sector and believe there will be a lot of opportunity.” He expects that hotel occupancy rates will improve next year. Despite his roots in construction, Tishman thinks it is smarter in this economy to buy existing hotels, specifically financially distressed properties, rather than build new ones. Tishman is eyeing the Times Square area from Eighth Avenue west, near the Javits Convention Center, where construction is underway to expand and renovate the complex. Large corporations, including the New York Times, Bank of America and law firm Proskauer Rose have moved into the area.

[more]

Dan Tishman

Dan Tishman is the fourth generation of his family to sit at the helm of Tishman Construction. In the last century, the firm has built some of the most high-profile projects in New York and around the globe. It’s currently building the iconic One World Trade Center. And while the firm mostly handles construction for others, it does some of its own developing too (it’s invested in two Times Square properties, the Westin Hotel and the InterContinental, the latter of which is to open within weeks). From his office at 666 Fifth Avenue (which, incidentally, his firm built), Dan, chairman and CEO, can gaze upon a skyline his family helped define. Click here to take a peek at Tishman’s desk.
[more]

Dan Tishman

From the June issue: Dan Tishman is the fourth generation of his family to sit at the helm of Tishman Construction. In the last century, the firm has built some of the most high-profile projects in New York and around the globe. It’s currently building the iconic One World Trade Center. And while the firm mostly handles construction for others, it does some of its own developing too (it’s invested in two Times Square properties, the Westin Hotel and the InterContinental, the latter of which is to open within weeks). From his office at 666 Fifth Avenue (which, incidentally, his firm built), Dan, chairman and CEO, can gaze upon a skyline his family helped define. Click here to take a peek at Tishman’s desk.

[more]

Joe Kranz of Turner Construction in Haiti

From the March issue: New York City architecture and construction firms are heading to Haiti in an effort to help rebuild the devastated Caribbean nation, which was hit with a magnitude 7 earthquake in January. The interest from these firms comes as the international response is shifting from short-term assistance to long-term reconstruction. The process, which will likely mean rethinking the way the poverty-stricken country builds everything from homes to hospitals, could cost $14 billion, according to the Inter-American Development Bank, an organization that focuses on economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean. These New York firms plan to offer Haiti the latest technology so that more-secure buildings can rise out of the rubble.

The New York Observer interviews Dan Tishman, chairman and CEO of
Tishman Construction. The firm has had or will have a hand in a number
of upcoming projects, including the Javits Center renovation, One Bryant Park and
the World Trade Center redevelopment. Tishman lives part-time on a llama farm in
Maine and had considered a career working with wildlife, but chose to go
into business instead. Tishman said he expects the real estate
industry, and the world as a whole, to see a “resettling” as the
recession continues. His company has not taken on a lot of debt, he
said, but it is still in the middle of a backlog of projects taken on
during the boom. [more]