Final stretch of High Line to be shaped by Related’s Hudson Yards

The northernmost stretch of the High Line will frame and be defined by the Hudson Yards megaproject, and park officials and the development’s major players, such as Related Companies, are touting the benefits of each other’s projects to their own, Crain’s reported.

Related is currently focused on the the eastern portion of the development, and has secured Coach as an anchor tenant for its 1.7 million-square-foot building known as South Tower. Coach sees the tower’s proximity to the High Line as a major draw, company executives told Crain’s. “The opportunity to build in the neighborhood — and to have the adjacency to the High Line — is something we’re very excited about,” said Jason Weisenfeld, senior vice president of global brand communications for Coach.

For their part, executives at the High Line are designing the park to be compatible with the multibillion-dollar development. “The High Line will adapt and change gradually with the neighborhood,” Peter Mullan, vice president for planning and design at Friends of the High Line, told Crain’s. “It will be a unique vantage point from which to see the transformation of Hudson Yards.”

Indeed, a large part of the third section of the park will be built as a temporary walkway, in anticipation of the changes that might be required as Hudson Yards takes shape. The interim section could remain for 15 years.

“The confluence of the High Line, Hudson River Park and Hudson Boulevard all leading to our central plaza will be a unique and unprecedented series of public spaces, conceived and designed to make this new New York destination even greater than the sum of all of its parts,” Jay Cross, president of Related Hudson Yards, told Crain’s.

Cross added that Related and partner Oxford Properties Group will contribute $27.8 million — nearly a third of the third leg’s anticipated $90 million cost — to build the section. [Crain’s] —Hiten Samtani