While the Second Avenue Subway seems to get most of the media’s attention, the extension of the 7 train, and the Hudson Yards is the largest development project in the history of New York.

Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village created 11,000 units of housing- there will be over 20,000 units of housing created, 25 million square feet of office space, 18,000 construction jobs over the next decade, and a massive new neighborhood.
I had the good fortune of hearing most of this from the development teams working on the project last week.

First things: the 7 train is going to be open for business by the end of the 2nd quarter of next year(!).

34th and 10th is the station, opening inside of a teardrop-shaped park from 33rd street to 36th street.

This portion of the project is being handled by Ann Weisbrod, who addressed up and is heading up the Hudson Yards Development Corporation, which raised $3Billion to extend the 7 Train.

Apparently the corporation, once this work is completed, will shut down, on time and one budget.

Nothing like working yourself out of a job!
Their oversight was to set up the vehicles for selling air rights and getting the private development underway.

Apparently, there’s some shock that there are tax incentives on the development.

But thinking big picture, without the 7 train and tax incentives

(Bloomberg outlines one

here), hard to know if anything would take place., the development would never have happened.

Certainly the scale of this development warrants an initial tax incentive set-up.

And all of this was spelled out when they began their bond fundraise.
Either way, on time and apparently on budget, the 7 train should appear next year.

There is the option of adding a 2nd stop on the train at 42nd and 10th avenues, at a current expected cost of $800mm.

So that part isn’t going to happen for some time.
The private sector seems to have gotten to work all along the 7 train path.

There’s a great video and article here

of what is cooking.

Bear in mind that when it opens, they expect 30 trains per hour (every 2 minutes!) serving 1000 people at a time.

The expectation is

that the commercial development, going first- which was mandated by the Hudson Yards plan- will all the infrastructure for the residential development.

This seems to be a real template for successful neighborhood planning.
But back to the big parcels under development.

Some retail develop research indicates that the neighborhood is currently underserved by retail by a minimum of 50%.

Across the US, many markets have about 25 square feet of retail per person.

New York City has 10 square feet, and Hudson Yards currently has 5 square feet per person.
Phil Wharton, of Brookfield Properties, took over from Ann Weisbrod, getting into some of the nerdy details of the platform they are building- I suppose, at a cost of $1billion, and underpinning most of their construction, that it would be important to get excited about it.

A great video is here.

Before, 450 w 33rd

They are developing between 30th-33rd streets, between 9th and 10th avenues.

Given that they are currently under major construction at Brookfield Place, the building formerly known as World Financial Center, they will have added Manhattan experience to their vast retail experience across Canada and the US.

The public spaces in this portion should be amazing.
November 2014 they begin the first residential building as well!

Another excitement – They are recladding 450 w 33rd, a pretty awful building you may have driven by uptown on 10th avenue.
A few additional things I felt are worth sharing:

• The 3rd portion of the Highline, which is well under construction, will have direct pedestrian access to the 30th street areas of the development.
• These developers are testing out the name “NoChe” for the neighborhood- North Chelsea.

  What do you think?

• The development is ultimately 12 city blocks
• Eastern portion (east of 11th avenue) will be 80/20 commercial, built first to be completed in 2018
• Western portion (west of 11th avenue) 80/20 residential, to be completed in 2023 or 2024
• The Related Companies is creating a “Culture Shed”

  which will ultimately house Fashion Week (and many other events!)- which will move from Lincoln Center – back to its Garment Center area roots!

All in all, an incredible neighborhood is rising.

Go walk the highline to the top and take a look!