The Shed courtesy of Diller Scofidio +Renfro, via The New York Times

Construction of The Shed, a six-level flexible structure that can adapt to different art forms and technologies, continues to progress where the High Line meets Hudson Yards. While the building, an independent non-profit cultural organization, has an expected opening date of 2019, the massive eight-million-pound structure can now slide along the High Line for five minutes on a half-dozen exposed steel wheels that measure six-feet in diameter (h/t NY Times). The Shed, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, in collaboration with Rockwell Group, features a movable shell on rails that sits over the fixed base of the building, allowing for it to change size depending on the type of event.

See the Shed slide

A rendering of One Hudson Yards, designed by renowned architecture firm Davis Brody Bond. (Image via onehudsonyards.com/Related)

The new luxury rental residences at One Hudson Yards at 530 West 30th Street, part of Manhattan’s largest new mixed-use development, have begun leasing for the 30-story building’s 178 apartments which range from one to three bedrooms (and one four-bedroom penthouse) according to a press release from Related Companies. The building’s architecture is by Davis Brody Bond; interiors are by Andre Kikoski, who also designed the building’s peerless collection of luxury amenities. Of particular note are extra-tall windows set into a modern curtain wall façade that offer breathtaking views of out over the Hudson River, the surrounding West Chelsea neighborhood and all of Downtown Manhattan–as well as Heatherwick Studios’ “Vessel” sculpture.

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6sqft recently reported on a forecast by online real estate marketplace Ten-X predicting a precipitous threefold spike in New York City’s apartment vacancy rate that could even exceed 11 percent by the end of next year as thousands of new apartments hit the market, adding up to a “grim reckoning” for landlords. Now, a Crains reporter tells us that skeptics like marketing-consultant-to-developers Nancy Packes, who said the prognostication of a rental market meltdown “didn’t make any sense,”  could be right after all.

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A new forecast by online real estate marketplace Ten-X predicts that New York City’s apartment vacancy rate will exceed 11 percent by the end of next year as thousands of apartments hit the market, the Wall Street Journal reports. The study also points to a slowing job growth rate, which drives the rental market, as a factor in what could be a “grim reckoning” for landlords.

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Photo of Hudson Yards Amtrak tunnel encasement via Tutor Perini

Currently, the first part of two box tunnels under the Hudson Yards development, below 10th and 11th Avenues on Manhattan’s west side, sits mostly finished. While construction of the final piece has yet to begin, when it’s complete the remaining section would link the tubes to the proposed new tunnel under the Hudson River, providing better access to Penn Station. However, according to the New York Times, both tunnel projects, which fall under the multi-billion dollar Gateway Program, lack the funding needed to finish.

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After an announcement yesterday morning that Michael R. Bloomberg made a $75 million gift towards Hudson Yards‘ arts center The Shed–bringing the total raised towards the $500 million capital campaign to $421 million–the “new center for artistic innovation” held a tour to mark the completion of steel construction. The eight-story structure, designed by Diller Scofidio & Renfro in partnership with the Rockwell Group, is a “fixed” base building made up of two gallery levels, a versatile theater, rehearsal space, creative studios for artists, and a sky-lit event space. But what makes the project truly unique is its telescoping outer shell that deploys over the building’s courtyard, doubling its footprint and creating a myriad of options for flexible, multi-disciplinary work. Ahead, 6sqft shares an up-close view of this amazing structure.

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The Shed via Wikipedia

Michael R. Bloomberg has added a $75 million contribution to what the New York Times calls “New York’s first new cultural institution in recent memory,” the arts center known as The Shed, part of the new Hudson Yards development on Manhattan’s far west side. The former mayor’s gift brings the total raised for the project to $421 million of its $500 million capital campaign. The new arts center has gotten much of its funding from a small group of billionaires that includes Related Companies’ Stephen M. Ross and media mogul Barry Diller. Set for completion in 2019, the eight-level structure, designed by Diller Scofidio & Renfro in partnership with the Rockwell Group, will host performances, concerts, visual art, music and other events.

A ‘tool kit for artists’

Yesterday, it was announced that celebrity chef José Andrés, credited with bringing the small-plate concept to the U.S., will be opening a massive Spanish food hall at Hudson Yards, closing a deal for the 35,000-square-foot space at 10 Hudson Yards that Shake Shack guru Danny Meyer had previously been in talks for. On the heels of the news, developers Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group released new renderings of the retail and restaurant spaces coming to the mega-development (h/t Curbed), most of which will be located in the “Shops and Restaurants at Hudson Yards,” a seven-story building that will hold the majority of the 25 restaurants and anchor tenant Neiman Marcus.

More renderings and details ahead

First Piece of Vessel Installed 04.18.2017 – courtesy of Related-Oxford

The standard for public art spaces has officially reached new heights. Today, the installation has begun on Vessel, an innovative landmark designed by Heatherwick Studio at Hudson Yards. As 6sqft previously wrote, the project’s idea stems from Related Companies‘ chairman Stephen Ross, who chose Heatherwick to design the $200 million (up as of today from the original $150 million estimate) large-scale piece of art. After being fabricated and constructed in Monfalcone, Italy, the first ten pieces of the 150-foot-tall steel structure arrived in January at the Port of Newark via ship and then traveled across the Hudson River. And as of this morning, Ross was on site to mark the first of these massive components (they each weigh close to 100,000 pounds) being put into place by crane.

See photos from Vessel’s installation and watch a video of Stephen Ross’ remarks

Along with its glassy towers on the rise and big-name corporations leasing office space, the Hudson Yards district is now displaying another show of how the mega-development is pushing the once-desolate Midtown West area forward–the announcement of a 60,000-square-foot Whole Foods. The green grocer will move into Brookfield Property’s eight-acre Manhattan West complex, located at 5 Manhattan West on the corner of 10th Avenue and West 31st Street, directly across from Related’s Hudson Yards. Echoing the sentiment of the “Whole Foods effect“–the pattern of real estate values increasing when high-end grocery stores open nearby, both due to convenience and prestige–a press release from the developer says the news “is a significant first step in creating a first-of-its-kind global retail hub at Manhattan West.”

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