Mini-City Breaks Ground in New York

Building big is nothing new in the Big Apple, but this mega-project, which will create "more office space than exists in Portland, Ore." on 26 acres located atop rail yards on Mahattan's far west side, "will be the largest private real estate development in the history of New York." The completion of the project's 15 buildings will change the face of Midtown Manhattan, and the city as a whole. 

“'This will shift the heart of the city to the Far West Side,' said Stephen Ross, whose Related Companies partnered with Oxford Properties Group to develop the site bounded by 30th St., Tenth Ave., 33rd St. and the West Side Highway. 'If you look at where all the young people are today, where they want to be, where all the money is going, it’s the West Side of Manhattan,' Ross, the Related chairman, added. 'The yards will be the epicenter of all that.'"

"Urban experts see Hudson Yards as a means for New York to stay competitive with Shanghai, London and Paris as a key 21st century city," says Sheftell. “This city needs to prove it can continue to innovate,” said Mitchell Moss, a New York University urban policy professor. “Who would figure out how to build a new neighborhood on railroad yards? People overlook that it brings a new class of buildings that are the most technologically and environmentally advanced. That’s key to attracting major companies, events and people.”

"The first phase will include four mixed-use commercial, residential, and retail structures, a cultural center and a five-star hotel."