The Related Companies reimagined the design of the first phase of its Hudson Yards project this past summer, the Wall Street Journal reported, after Chairman Stephen Ross became disenchanted with the original renderings.

“I could tell that Stephen wasn’t in love with it,” Jay Cross, who oversees the West Side project for Related, told the Journal. “He felt he wanted the buildings to be more dramatic. And we found that the marketplace was looking for bigger buildings.”

The initial design, by William Pedersen of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates architecture firm, featured three strictly rectangular steel office towers, the shortest in the middle. [more]

From left: Culture Shed model and a rendering of the Whitney Museum in the Meatpacking District

If the city has its way, New Yorkers will be able to walk along the High Line from the Whitney Museum, take a few stops at Chelsea galleries, and continue to a Hudson Yards arts center called the Culture Shed.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the arts center, which Mayor Michael Bloomberg said this week would host Fashion Week, would be home to theater performances, traveling exhibitions and community events. The city hopes to have a clear plan for the center by next summer, including funding and a non-profit organization to lead it. [more]

From left: Time Warner Center and a rendering of Hudson Yards

Now that Coach is on the books, Hudson Yards’ next office tenant could be Time Warner, according to the New York Post. The namesake of Related Companies’ Columbus Circle complex has been looking to downsize from the 864,000-square-foot space it owns at the Time Warner Center, and other city office space, in an effort to cut costs.

Related is considering offering the media giant an opportunity to swap its space for a smaller home in Hudson Yards. [more]

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]

Canadian pension fund Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, or OMERS, is opening its first American office at 320 Park Avenue near 51st Street, the fund announced, in hopes of expanding its presence in private market investments in the U.S.

OMERS manages $53 billion in assets, including $10 billion in the United States. Canadians have been active of late in the New York market, and real estate watchers might recognize OMERS’ investment arm, Oxford Properties Group, which partnered with the Related Companies on the 12 million-square-foot development of Hudson Yards. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

From left: Rendering of Hudson Yards and Related CEO Stephen Ross and rendering of Manhattan West and Brookfield CEO Ric ClarkIn their efforts not to fall behind one another in the development of massive West Side sites, Related Companies and Brookfield Office Properties each plan to begin construction at its property early next year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

At Hudson Yards, at the LIRR storage area between 10th and 12th avenues and 30th and 33rd streets, Related is close to an agreement with Coach for 600,000-square-feet in the first building set to rise at the sites southeast corner. But financing for the building may not be complete until the developer can ink another tenant. [more]

Time Warner is moving forward with its plan to possibly move out of the Time Warner Center and consolidate its operations at new headquarters elsewhere to save costs, the Wall Street Journal reported. In a memo to all New York-based employees yesterday, the company said it would be undertaking a broad reevaluation of its real estate, with a formal plan expected next year. Time Warner moved to Columbus Circle in 2004, where it had partnered with Related Companies to build the David Childs-designed building that is its company headquarters now. Comments

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Developer Edward Minskoff and a rendering of 51 Astor

Developer Edward Minskoff is preparing to break ground at 51 Astor Place, he told Real Estate Weekly, a 400,000-square-foot office tower between Third and Fourth avenues and 8th and 9th streets. Minskoff’s firm, Edward J. Minskoff Equities, will begin demolition of the building currently sitting on the site by the end of this year, REW said.
With other developers avoiding risks as the economy continues to fluctuate, Minskoff is betting that 51 Astor will attract tenants once built, saying it will be superior to Manhattan’s comparatively shabby office stock.
“It’s a state of the art building that’s going to be more technologically advanced than 98 percent of other buildings today,” Minskoff said. “Companies that want to operate their businesses efficiently and effectively realize now that they need great space to do it.” [more]

Brookfield Office Properties intends to get a leg up on competitor the Related Companies by using bridge-building technology to cover a 65-foot railroad trench at the site of its new Manhattan West development, Bloomberg News reported. Construction at the site requires covering tracks that shuttle about 100,000 people each weekday into and out of Pennsylvania Station.

The technology has never previously been used with a building project, and would save two years of labor and cut costs for a platform in half to about $300 million, Brookfield told Bloomberg.

Brookfield is competing for tenants with Related’s Hudson Yards, among other new office properties slated for completion mid-decade. [more]

Stephen Ross’ Related Companies is currently in talks with nine prospective tenants for its Hudson Yards development, each seeking more than one million square feet of space. In an interview with the New York Times, Ross said he’ll be able to announce signed deals for at least 3 million of the 4.5 million square feet being developed in the project’s first phase by the year’s end. As The Real Deal previously reported, Dean Shapiro, former executive managing director at CB Richard Ellis will be leading the in-house marketing. Though Related has not secured construction lenders yet, it does have a partner on the project, the Ontario employees pension plan, which is investing $475 million. Ross said it’s among the projects he’s most proud of because it essentially creates a new neighborhood. [more]