Abandoned tracks in Queens

The Trust of Public Land has issued requests for proposals to conduct a feasibility study on a 3.5-mile stretch of abandoned rail line in Queens that many people want to turn into the borough’s version of the High Line, DNAinfo reported.

Marc Matsil, New York State director for the Trust for Public Land, which is championing the project, told DNAinfo the winner will be picked in the next couple of months. One of the goals, he said, will be to generate support for the project among elected officials and the Queens community. [more]

Related Companies CEO Stephen Ross made an appearance on CNBC this morning (see video here) to talk about his upcoming Hudson Yards project. “You know this is where the next great place in New York is going to be,” he said, referencing the developments in subway coverage and the extension of the High Line park. He says he follows the money when it comes to development, watching where the city and state are investing.

Ross said he was confident about attracting tenants for the first phase of the development, which will include four million square feet of office space. “I think we’re going to surprise people,” he said. “We’re talking to nine tenants at two million square feet each.”

As reported last month, Related is pitching Time Warner on a lease, hoping to draw them away from their Columbus Circle headquarters less than 10 years after the company first moved in. … [more]

From left: Leonard Steinberg, 245 Tenth Avenue and Herve Senequier

The Grasso Holdings-developed condominium at 245 Tenth Avenue, once more than 60 percent in contract before construction stalled, kicked off its renewed sales effort with an open house last night at a fifth-floor unit overlooking the High Line. Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery is currently the lone tenant, having moved into one of the two ground-floor office condos in September 2009. Brokers Leonard Steinberg and Herve Senequier of Prudential Douglas Elliman market the residential portion of the building.
According to Steinberg, between the High Line’s extension to Greenwich Village, the subway station planned for 11th Avenue and 34th Street, and Avenues, an exclusive private school slated to open next year nearby on 10th Avenue, the neighborhood is primed to become one of the city’s most sought-after. … [more]

A rendering of the development at 437 West 13th Street and Amanda Burden, chair of the City Planning Commission

Romanoff Equities received approval today for a shorter, but still contentious, new 10-story office and retail building at 437 West 13th Street in the Meatpacking District, adjacent to the High Line. The original proposal called for a 215-foot, 12-story glass tower, exceeding the manufacturing zone’s maximum floor area ratio of 5. The developers argued that the additional size — their proposal’s F.A.R. was 7.73 — would allow them to recoup the costs of an expensive foundation made necessary by soil conditions on the site and a portion of the land made unusable by the location of the High Line. Over the course of three public hearings on the matter, during which community groups argued that the tower would outsize its neighbors and replace a historic Meatpacking building, the proposal was scaled down to 201 feet, and then to 175 feet, or a 6.18 F.A.R., at which point it was unanimously approved by the Board of Standards and Appeals.
Even so, the approved proposal is 24 percent larger than traditional zoning laws would allow for that space…. [more]