Manhattan West project rendering
Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended his decision to fast-track rezoning in Midtown East at the groundbreaking ceremony for Brookfield Office Properties’ Manhattan West megaproject yesterday, the New York Observer reported. The mayor dismissed concerns that the rezoning would see a flight of corporate tenants to Midtown East at the expense of the new towers at Manhattan West. [more]
From left: The groundbreaking ceremony and a rendering of the Hudson Yards
The multibillion-dollar Hudson Yards development has been making a major push to woo prospective corporate tenants, the New York Times reported. Hudson Yards — which will span from 30th to 42nd streets, between Eighth Avenue to the Hudson River — is expected to create roughly 25 million square feet of office space, 3,200 hotel rooms and 20,000 residential units, a quarter of which have already begun construction. The project’s major players — including Related Companies, Brookfield Office Properties, Extell Development Company, the Moinian Group and Alloy Development — have started to put money into marketing. … [more]
From left: Bruce Mosler, Manhattan West rendering and 450 West 33rd Street
In an effort to better integrate its existing West 33rd Street tower with its forthcoming multi-billion-dollar Manhattan West project, Brookfield Office Properties is considering undertaking a massive renovation of the former home of the New York Daily News, according to the New York Observer. The 1.7 million-square-foot tower, at 450 West 33rd Street, is adjacent to the rail yards where Brookfield will begin construction in the coming months on a $300 million deck that will serve as the base of a four-tower development. [more]
Brookfield's Phil Wharton and a rendering of Manhattan West
The Far West Side earned the latest confirmation of its potential as a residential neighborhood when office developer Brookfield Office Properties recently said it was considering adding 900 apartments to its Manhattan West project, according to the New York Post. The area already has thousands of new rental units from developers such as TF Cornerstone, Glenwood Management and the Related Companies, and has thousands more on the way from those developers, the Gotham Organization and Iliad Development. [more]
Brookfield President Dennis Friedrich, Phil Wharton, new director of development, and Manhattan West
Long considered only for its office and retail potential, Brookfield Office Properties’ massive Manhattan West development site could include residential, too. Citing information from an investor call, Bloomberg News reported that the developer may include up to 900 residential units in its 5.4 million-square-foot plan.
“We’ve always highlighted the office density because we’re an office landlord,” said Brookfield Office President Dennis Friedrich said. “But we have the ability to build 900 units on that site. That market has really taken off, and may drive greater value for us, so we took a little bit of time to study that.” [more]
A rendering of Manhattan West
Brookfield Office Properties is awaiting only the go-ahead from Amtrak, which operates the train tracks beneath the site slated for its massive Manhattan West project, before it begins construction on a deck to cover the rail yards.
The New York Post reported that while Brookfield officials say they are 95 percent of the way to an agreement with Amtrak executives, Amtrak in turn said the sides still have “some substantive” issues to iron out. The developer had previously said construction would start in January. [more]
From left: renderings of 250 West 55th Street, Manhattan West and 51 Astor Place
The city’s low office vacancy rates and slowly rising rents are overshadowing a disturbing office leasing trend, according to the New York Post. Ground-up office projects have been unable to secure major tenants, which in turn has stifled development.
Yesterday’s news that Silverstein Properties might cap off 3 World Trade Center at seven stories because of its inability to land a tenant, is just the most recent example. [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]
Midtown West is quickly becoming a hub of commercial activity, brokers say, in anticipation of the Related Companies’ Hudson Yards development and thanks to new zoning regulations. “Eastern Consolidated, and I personally, have done a tremendous amount of work there,” said David Schechtman, senior director of Eastern Consolidated’s Turnaround and Distressed Group. “There’s a renewed interest in the neighborhood. It’s south of the already established Hell’s Kitchen and the gateway to Hudson Yards. There are big old buildings there that are ready to be repositioned — old, raw material that could be reshaped.”
As The Real Deal previously reported, Midtown West office building sales rose by more than 100 percent year-over-year in 2011, to $5.7 billion from $1.8 billion in 2010, according to Eastern Consolidated’s recent MetroGrid Report for Midtown West, released last week, which defines Midtown West as the area that extends from 30th to 59th streets, and Fifth Avenue to the Hudson River. … [more]
Brookfield’s U.S. President and CEO Mitch RudinSince leaving CB Richard Ellis to become president and CEO of Brookfield Office Properties’ U.S. commercial operation, Mitchell Rudin told the New York Observer he’s been busy visiting all seven of the firm’s offices outside New York City.
Rudin gushed about the portfolio and the people throughout Brookfield’s markets in the interview, and said he’s been trying to keep up with the intricacies of each of those markets. They include Boston, Washington, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis and Denver…. [more]
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