Yardsmania Stunner: MTA Wants Bigger Piece of the Pie

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With a decision on the Hudson Yards bids supposedly one month away, the MTA has chucked a curveball right at the groins of competing developers Extell, Related, Tishman Speyer, Vornado/Durst and Brookfield Properties. Over the weekend, Charles Bagli reported in the Times that the MTA has cold feet about selling the 26 acres of prime waterfront land currently serving as the West Side rail yards. Now, the MTA has two new requests: the winning developer gets a 99-year lease, and the MTA gets an "equity-type interest" in any project built on the land. Whoa now! It's like the cash-strapped MTA woke up one day and was like, "Oh crap, we forgot about the billions more we could be making off this one piece of land!" But how will the developers react to these new demands? As Bagli points out, the move comes right when commercial developers are growing uneasy about the market and the economy. One anonymous bidder told the Times, "I think these people don't realize what the financial climate is like." Another classic case of the unpredictable MTA doing its thing, or an awesome muscle move because—in the end—the winner will pay whatever it takes to get the deal done?
· New Bids Are Sought for Building on Railyards [NYT]
· Yardsmania Nonshocker: Underdogs Still Underdogs [Curbed]
· Yardsmania: Is Related's Murdochville Inevitable? [Curbed]
· Curbed Poll Reminder: The Hudson Yards Winner Is... [Curbed]

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