Yardsmania #1: Brookfield Properties Goes Splittsville

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[Click to expand.]

Developer: Brookfield Properties
Architects: Skidmore Owings & Merrill, Field Operations, Thomas Phifer & Partners, ShoP Archiects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, SANAA, Handel Architects
Biggest building: 1.9 million total square feet and ~1,300 feet tall
Housing: 3,300 units
Public space: 15.4 acres
High Line?: Saved!
Online?: Yup!

Brookfield's bid is seen as one of the long shots, because the company has no major corporate partner to tout. Brookfield knew this going in, so they piled on the starchitects like they were going out of style. Like most of these bids, the end result would most likely look far different than the proposals, but that's especially true with Brookfield, given the preliminary stage of the design as well as all the firms involved. Brookfield's plan divides the Yards into two chunks separated by Eleventh Avenue, the more residential Western Rail Yards ("Hudson Green") and the more commercial Eastern Rail Yards ("Hudson Place"). Cultural and community facilities (like a new Children's Museum) are sprinkled throughout, and two big hotels are planned right smack in the middle.

The area along the 30th Street stretch of the High Line—the southern border of the Hudson Yards—would be the "West Chelsea Promenade," filled with boutiques, galleries, cafes and attractive youngsters, if the renderings are to be believed. Six of the eight residential buildings are along this stretch. The other two (One and Two Hudson Green) are in the NW corner, on 33rd Street and Twelfth Avenue. They are designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, are connected via a skybridge, and are kind of awesome. Over in the East/Hudson Place, the big showpiece is SOM's One and Two Hudson Place, the massive office towers along Tenth Avenue. Instead of one huge park, Hudson Green and Hudson Place each get their own big plot (4.4 acres for Hudson Green and 3.4 acres for Hudson Place). Here are some renderings:

Looking down on SOM's One and Two Hudson Place, with the joining Hudson Hall in the middle.

Hudson Hall. Calatrava much?

[Looking north up the Hudson, to One and Two Hudson Green and its skybridge. Click to expand.]

The West Chelsea Promenade.

The site plan. Click to expand.
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