Rendering via Rafael Viñoly Architects

New York City could be getting its first soccer stadium if a proposal for the project led by Related Companies gets chosen by officials. A partnership made up of developers Related and Somerset Partners, along with the Major League Soccer team, New York City Football Club, has submitted a plan to bring a 26,000-seat soccer stadium designed by Rafael Viñoly, over 550 units of affordable housing and a waterfront park to the South Bronx. According to YIMBY, the project, estimated to cost $700 million, would rise on the site of the Harlem River Yards, a 13-acre parcel in Mott Haven operated by the Empire State Development Corporation.

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Rendering courtesy of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill via Gov. Cuomo’s office

Recognizing life sciences as New York City’s next largest growth sector, Vornado Realty Trust and Related Companies hope to attract tech companies to the redevelopment of the James A. Farley Post Office. The joint venture will develop 850,000 square feet of commercial space, with roughly 730,000 square feet set aside for office space. The developers, which have a 99-year lease, are seeking biotechnology and pharmaceutical businesses as tenants, according to the Wall Street Journal. The team has hired a Boston-based broker with experience in the life-sciences real-estate market and has also created a brochure with possible designs for laboratory and office space. The brochure is titled “Moynihan Research Center at Farley.”

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Video segment courtesy of Related-Oxford

The Vessel, the 150-foot vertical sculpture, topped out on Wednesday, following eight months of construction at the Hudson Yards site. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, the 600-ton structure made of bronzed steel and concrete will sit in the center of the development’s public square. It includes 154 intricately-laced flights of stairs and 80 landings, rising from a base that measures 50 feet in diameter and widens to 150 feet at the top. The landmark offers a one-mile vertical climbing experience, allowing for unique views of Manhattan’s evolving West Side. Related Companies, the group behind the Hudson Yards development, created a time lapse of the Vessel rising, beginning with the fabrication of pieces in Italy, followed by its first placement and then, finally, the structure’s topping out on Wednesday.

Watch it rise

The Vessel, topped out; image courtesy of Related-Oxford

The Vessel, a 150-foot-tall climbable sculpture made of bronzed steel and concrete, topped out Wednesday, serving as the public centerpiece of Hudson Yards Public Square and Gardens. Designed by Heatherwick Studio, the $150 million interactive landmark includes 154 interconnecting flights of stairs, nearly 2,500 individual steps and 80 landings. The idea for the project stems from Related Companies’ chairman, Stephen Ross, who called it “New York’s Eiffel Tower.” The final piece of the 600-ton structure will be installed today, nearly eight months after construction began.

See it here

Rendering of the observation deck at 30 Hudson Yards, via Related Companies

Another deal has been inked for the massive Hudson Yards project, a 26-acre complex developed by Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group, and it will definitely reach new heights. On Tuesday, Related announced that London restaurant and catering company Rhubarb will run a 10,000-square-foot public space in the nearly 1,300-foot supertall 30 Hudson Yards. Rhubarb will operate a bar, restaurant, and event space on the 92nd floor, one floor above the tower’s observation deck, which at 1,100 feet will be the highest outdoor deck in the city. According to Eater and the Post, the company will also open a 5,800-square-foot restaurant on the fifth floor and an indoor-outdoor bar at the observatory.

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Rendering of the Hunters Point South project, courtesy of NYCEDC

An eight-acre, 1.6 million-square-foot residential site next to Hunters Point South is for sale, a piece of land owned by a family for generations. According to the New York Post, the site could potentially bring in $480 million if targeted to market-rate condominiums since land in Long Island City sells for roughly $300 per square foot. The triangle-shaped plot of land found at 55-01 Second Street and bounded by 54th Avenue and Vernon Boulevard, sits on Newtown Creek, an estuary that forms part of the border between Brooklyn and Queens. The site might make the perfect spot for Amazon’s second headquarters as the tech giant seeks 500,000 square feet for their HQ2 by 2019.

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Construction progresses on the Vessel, photo courtesy of CityRealty

In April, construction began on Hudson Yards’ Vessel, a 150-foot-tall steel structure designed by Heatherwick Studio and its 100,000 pound-components were put in place by crane. The $200 million “public landmark” began to rise in August and now the structure’s construction has hit its halfway mark. The project’s idea comes from Related Companies’ chairman Stephen Ross, who called it the “365-day Christmas tree.” The climbable Vessel will be the centerpiece of the Public Square and Gardens, five-acres of greenery that will connect the buildings of Hudson Yards. The structure includes 154 geometric-lattice linked flights of stairs, 80 landings and will able to hold 1,000 visitors.

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A decade after first embarking on Hudson Yards–the largest private development in the nation’s history–developer Related Companies is in the thick of things, with listings live at 15 and One Hudson Yards and construction underway at 30, 35, and 55, as well as The Shed cultural center and the Vessel public art piece. Keeping the momentum moving, Yimby has now uncovered a new rendering of Norman Foster‘s 985-foot 50 Hudson Yards, which at $3.94 billion will be the city’s most expensive office tower, and the first view of the food and beverage pavilion that will sit in the Eastern Railyard.

All the details ahead

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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Rendering of L&L Holding Company’s planned rooftop terrace at 390 Madison Avenue

Update 7/31/17: The Post reports that the DOB recently sent landlords a draft memo clarifying that, aside from minor details, terraces are allowed “as open passive recreation space.” 

To give workers a comfortable and conducive work space, some companies have outfitted their offices with amenities like on-site fitness centers, free coffee and outdoor space. However, the city’s Department of Buildings has launched a campaign to stop or delay these rooftop terraces on office towers, claiming the spaces can only be used for plants, not people. As the New York Post reported, DOB may not approve office terrace plans and may even rescind already approved plans.

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