Undeterred by an ambiguous future and declining rents, Related Companies is intent on adding more office space to New York City’s central business district — more than a million square feet of it.
Stephen Ross’ firm last month filed plans for a 1.3 million-square-foot office tower at 514 West 36th Street in Hudson Yards, directly across the street from 66 Hudson Boulevard, where Tishman Speyer is putting the finishing touches on its own massive office project: the 65-story, 2.8-million-square-foot Spiral.
While some may see it as a foolhardy bet, the filing may suggest more about where the tower will be located than the city’s office market at large.
Several major New York City developers have seized opportunities for large office, retail and hotel projects in and around Hudson Yards, transforming the rezoned West Side neighborhood into one of the city’s most sought-after areas for development.
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The 60-block district rezoned by the City Council in 2005 covers most of the area bounded by the Javits Center and the Hudson River to the west and Eighth Avenue to the east, between West 30th and 41st Streets.
It permitted the construction of 24 million square feet of offices, 2 million square feet of hotels, 1 million square feet of retail and thousands of residential units. Developers have eagerly answered the call.
Related and Oxford Properties have already teamed up on four office buildings in the district. The largest, the 100-story, 2.6 million-square-foot 30 Hudson Yards, counts tenants including WarnerMedia, KKR and Wells Fargo.
30 Hudson Yards (Getty)
The 52-story 10 Hudson Yards, at 501 West 30th Street, is home to SAP, L’Oreal USA and luxury fashion holding company Tapestry. Down the block at 380 11th Avenue sits the 51-story, 1.3 million-square-foot 55 Hudson Yards, which counts Meta, the law firm Cooley and hedge fund Point72 on its rent roll.
Related and Oxford’s latest office project, 50 Hudson Yards, had its official ribbon-cutting last month. The 77-story, 2.9 million-square-foot tower at 427 10th Avenue will house additional space for Meta, as well as BlackRock and Truist Financial. Iconic eatery Russ & Daughters will open its fourth location in the building’s ground-floor space next year.
50 Hudson Yards (Getty)
East of Related’s office towers is Brookfield Properties’ Manhattan West megaproject, which consists of four office towers, plus a hotel and retail space. The 67-floor, 2.1-million-square-foot One Manhattan West at 395 Ninth Avenue rosters notable tenants like Ernst & Young, Accenture and law firm Skadden.
At 424 West 33rd Street is the 13-story, 184,000-square-foot Four Manhattan West, and around the corner at 450 West 33rd Street sits the 16-floor Five Manhattan West, which is home to the likes of Amazon and JPMorgan Chase across its 1.6 million square feet.
The fourth building, Two Manhattan West, is still in development at 435 West 31st Street and is expected to open next year. The 58-story, 2 million-square-foot tower’s occupants will include KPMG, D.E. Shaw and Clifford Chance.
The Spiral at 66 Hudson Boulevard (Getty)
Other developers like Tishman Speyer, Boston Properties and the Moinian Group are building office projects in Hudson Yards too. Tishman’s 65-story Spiral will be home to HSBC, NewYork Presbyterian and Pfizer. Boston Properties and Moinian, meanwhile, are developing a 56-floor, 1.9 million-square-foot, dubbed 3 Hudson Boulevard, at 400 11th Avenue.
An obvious allure for developers in Hudson Yards is the pretty penny tenants are willing to pay for space there. The average asking rent in Hudson Yards and Manhattan West was $135.87 per square foot in the third quarter, the highest of any Manhattan submarket, according to Colliers.
Among Class A space specifically, the average asking rent was $140.05 per square foot, second only to Tribeca, which has far less space to offer (8.4 million square feet, compared to Hudson Yards and Manhattan West’s 20.6 million).
The neighborhood saw net absorption of 1.1 million square feet last quarter, behind only the Plaza District, where the average asking rent for Class A space was much lower at $94.10 a square foot.
It’s not just office projects that have risen across Hudson Yards. Retail and hotel developments have become prominent fixtures of the neighborhood too.
20 Hudson Yards (KPF)
Perhaps the most notable is Related’s 20 Hudson Yards, a seven-floor luxury shopping mall with roughly 100 shops and restaurants across its 1 million square feet, including retailers like Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Dior.
Brookfield’s Manhattan West includes 240,000 square feet of retail, the majority of which is ground-floor space lining the 2.5-acre plaza at the project’s center. Retail tenants include Whole Foods, Peloton and the National Hockey League’s flagship store.
Major hotel properties built in the area since the rezoning include the 15-floor, 212-key Equinox Hotel at Related’s 35 Hudson Yards, Brookfield’s 164-key Pendry Manhattan West at 438 West 33rd Street, and Marx Development Group’s 29-story, 399-room Courtyard by Marriott at 461 West 34th Street. David Marx’s development firm is also building a 51-story Aloft hotel project at 450 11th Avenue.