West Side arms race continues as Brookfield, Related prepare sites for construction

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. The Journal said CB Richard Ellis has been chose to market the space. Construction on the rest of the site, which has become a priority for the city as Bloomberg has directed a subway line extension to feed the neighborhood, couldn’t begin until a $700 million deck is built above the rail yards.

Meanwhile, Brookfield has said several times that next year it will start constructing the $300 million deck above the rail tracks, along Ninth Avenue between 31st and 33rd Streets, needed before any structures rise. The firm has named the site Manhattan West. Through its other holdings, the company has relationships with many of the city’s most prominent office tenants and expects to fill the buildings with those clients.

Though both firms acknowledged competition for tenants would be fierce, Related said its advantage would be the larger mixed-use projects complimenting the office buildings on its site. Brookfield, on the other hand, boasted that it owns its development site, which is also closer to existing transit. [WSJ]