Report: Tishman Speyer picked to develop Hudson Yards

A model of Tishman Speyer’s Hudson Yards plans is now on display at the site of a press conference that’s being held by Gov. David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg at the West Side rail yards. Crain’s reported earlier that Tishman had been picked to develop the MTA’s 26-acre site. Tishman, which bid $1.004 billion for the site, was selected despite its lack of an anchor tenant. Tishman offered $112 million more than the only other bid that was still in the running this week, the Durst Organization-Vornado Realty Trust joint venture. That team had Conde Naste Publications as an anchor tenant and proposed 6.4 million square feet of residential space, the most of all five bids. Tishman’s plan calls for 10 million square feet of office space, 3 million square feet of housing and 13 acres of open space. Morgan Stanley, a co-bidder, withdrew its interest in being an anchor tenant over fears that a new headquarters would not be built in time. Building a platform over active train tracks is expected to cost $1.5 billion. The Observer reports that the MTA didn’t give a “conditional letter of designation” to Tishman today, but is expected to over the next 14 days. TRD