In the decade since the High Line opening, the surrounding area of West Chelsea has exploded into one of Manhattan’s most desirable areas for developers building luxury real estate. (It didn’t hurt that the opening of the now-famous elevated park coincided with a neighborhood rezoning.) These days, any walk along the park reveals a variety of development in different stages of construction right alongside buildings that have welcomed new, typically wealthy residents over the past several years. 6sqft has rounded up the 14 defining buildings now open around the High Line. There are the early trailblazers, like the energy-efficient condo HL23, as well as the starchitect standouts, like Zaha Hadid’s 520 West 28th, and of course, the new kids on the block, including Bjarke Ingels’ twisting towers The XI and Thomas Heatherwick’s bubbled Lantern House condo.
Major Developments
Architecture, Chelsea, condos, Features, Major Developments, New Developments, Rentals, Starchitecture
Astoria, Major Developments, Queens
Rendering the civic park at Innovation QNS courtesy of ODA
A proposal to build a mixed-use district in Queens that would encompass five blocks and create thousands of new housing units was unveiled this week. Dubbed “Innovation QNS,” the $2 billion project would bring 2,700 units of mixed-income housing, 250,000 square feet of creative office space, 200,000 square feet of retail, a new school, two acres of public open space, and new neighborhood amenities to Astoria. With ODA Architecture as the architect of the master plan, the mixed-use district is a joint private venture led by Silverstein Properties, Kaufman Astoria Studios, BedRock Real Estate Partners.
affordable housing, Major Developments, New Developments, New Jersey
Rendering of Cove Pointe, community green. Rendering by Minno and Wasko
After receiving approval from the city, last week, developer BRP Companies revealed renderings for their Bayfront Redevelopment Project in Jersey City along the Hackensack River. Located on a former brownfield site, the 100-acre project will be built in phases, eventually resulting in 8,000 units of mixed-income housing (35 percent of which will be affordable), said to be the largest such project in the region. This fall, construction will kick off on the 16-acre first phase, known as Cove Pointe, which will bring 1,092 units of housing, with 382 set aside as affordable and workforce housing.
Art, Major Developments
Rendering of Terminal B courtesy of the Governor’s Office
The ongoing $8 billion transformation of LaGuardia Airport has focused on bringing the airport’s functionality into the 21st century, but a series of major art commissions will also enhance how travelers experience the overhauled spaces. On Thursday Governor Cuomo announced a partnership with the nonprofit Public Art Fund that will bring site-specific works by four renowned artists —Jeppe Hein, Sabine Hornig, Laura Owens, and Sarah Sze—to the new Arrivals and Departures Hall opening later this year at Terminal B.
affordable housing, Major Developments, Sunnyside, Urban Design
All renderings by the Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU)
According to the master plan for the 180-acre Sunnyside Yard development in Queens, the former storage and maintenance hub for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, New Jersey Transit, and Long Island Rail Road will include 12,000 affordable apartments, making it the largest affordable housing development to be built in NYC since the middle-income Co-op City in the Bronx was completed in 1973 (h/t Wall Street Journal). The plan by the New York City Economic Development Corp. (EDC) outlines a $14.4 billion deck over the train yard on which the complex would be built. Half the housing in the development would be rental apartments for low-income families earning less than 50 percent of the area median income, with the other half set aside for affordable homeownership programs through Mitchell-Lama. The Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU) was identified to lead the planning process, and they have just released renderings and maps of the massive development.
Interiors, Major Developments, Rentals, Upper West Side
Living area inside an apartment at One Waterline Square; photo by Evan Joseph
When rental units at the Waterline Square development on the Upper West Side hit the market last fall it was clear that the price tags reflected the starchitect lineup involved with its design: The trio of glassy towers was designed by Richard Meier & Partners (One Waterline Square), Kohn Pedersen Fox (Two Waterline Square), and Rafael Viñoly (Three Waterline Square), with Hill West Architects serving as executive architect for the master plan. Located on Riverside Boulevard between 59th and 61st Streets, the complex holds 868 rental units (in addition to 263 condos), which start at $3,938/month for a studio and go up to $15,000/month for a four-bedroom. If you’re curious about what those pricey rentals look like inside, here’s a look at three model homes in each of the towers.
Architecture, hudson yards, Major Developments, New Developments
Image courtesy of Gammahaus
A new design–the third so far–has been revealed for 3 Hudson Boulevard, the next office tower to rise at Hudson Yards. Located at the northwest corner of West 34th Street and Hudson Boulevard, the tower, which has long been in planning stages, will have 1.85 million square feet of office space. The latest designs reveal a height of just under 1,000 feet with 56 stories, the New York Post reports. Some floors will have ceilings of almost 30 feet with terraces at the end.
Financial District, Major Developments, Starchitecture
Previous rendering of 2 World Center via DBOX, courtesy of Bjarke Ingels Group
It looks like Norman Foster’s design for 2 World Trade Center might rise after all. First unveiled in 2006, the original Foster + Partners proposal was scrapped in 2015 for Bjarke Ingels’ stacked tower, which was deemed more suitable to prospective media tenants. After leases with Fox and News Corp. fell through in 2016, the future of the tenant-less tower has remained uncertain. Absent any takers, developer Larry Silverstein is now pivoting back to the Foster vision, the New York Post reports. The old design is being “significantly modified to be more reflective of contemporary needs and taste,” Silverstein said.
Bushwick, Landscape Architecture, Major Developments, New Developments, Urban Design, Williamsburg
All renderings © James Corner Field Operations and BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, courtesy of Two Trees Management
Two new mixed-use towers with 1,000 units of housing and six acres of public space have been proposed for the North Brooklyn waterfront. Two Trees Management on Thursday unveiled plans to bring two Bjarke Ingels Group-designed buildings, one at 650 feet and the other at 600 feet, on River Street between North 1st and North 3rd Street in Williamsburg. The buildings, with Metropolitan Avenue running between them, will serve as an entrance to the new waterfront space, part of a master plan designed in collaboration with BIG and James Corner Field Operations. The park and public beach would close the gap between Grand Ferry Park and North Fifth Park, eventually providing continuous access to the East River between South Williamsburg and Greenpoint.
affordable housing, Bronx, Major Developments
Renderings courtesy of ArX Solutions
Last fall, Brookfield Properties bought two sites in Mott Haven for $165 million—the most expensive transaction on record for development in the Bronx—from Somerset Partners and Chetrit Group. On Thursday, the developers revealed a $950 million plan for a 4.3-acre mixed-use development that will bring more than 1,350 apartments to the South Bronx neighborhood, of which 30 percent will be affordable. Branded as Bankside, the project will also include a public waterfront park and promenade, as well as ground-floor retail and community facility spaces.
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