Manhattan's Hudson Yards 'Mini-City' Back on Track

Stymied for a time by lackluster investment, planned redevelopment of Hudson Yards on Manhattan's West Side is picking up speed. Joining residential buildings and budget hotels, office towers will bring municipal revenues back up.

1 minute read

June 30, 2015, 6:00 AM PDT

By Philip Rojc @PhilipRojc


Hudson Yards Towers

Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York / Wikimedia Commons

Hudson Yards' current palate of new residential and hotel structures hasn't been enough to fully justify an extensive redevelopment plan. "Critics have long complained that revenues from Hudson Yards development have fallen far short of what former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg had once promised [...]"

However, "in the last 11 months alone, developers have paid the city $336 million in fees and development rights to allow for taller towers in the district." 

Project architect Daniel Doctoroff, deputy mayor for economic development under former Mayor Bloomberg, remarked, "The planning and rezoning of the West Side for high-rise development, particularly office towers, was necessary for the city to continue to grow and prosper. Otherwise, Manhattan was running out of room for new development."

"Development on the West Side is generating so much money in fees and taxes, officials say, that for the first time in a decade, the city will not have to take money out of its budget to make payments on the $3 billion in bonds used to build parks and a subway line in the district."

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