Vegas on the Hudson Swimming With the Fishes?

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In a stunning turnaround from its odds-on favorite status of a year ago, the Related Companies' controversial $625 million plan to turn Hudson River Park's Pier 40 into a glitzy pleasuredome of sexually-suggestive French-Canadian entertainment appears to be dead, all because of something as pedestrian as length-of-lease terms. At last month's Hudson River Park Trust board meeting there was a lot of debate over Related's demands for a 49-year lease, because the HRPT only can grant 30-year leases. At yesterday's board meeting, it was announced that Related's Vegas on the Hudson vision was no longer being considered because of the lease dispute. The other two groups bidding on the ball fields—the parent-led Pier 40 Partnership and the CampGroup/Urban Dove team—were given 90 days to work out a joint proposal. Via the Villager, CampGroup/Urban Dove's plan can be seen above, with another look right here. If the two cannot draft something suitable, the HRPT will go to Albany and inquire about a 49-year lease on Pier 40, which would bring Related back into play. For now, though, it seems like Cirque du Soleil is homeless, and Molto Mario gets what Molto Mario wants.
· Related's Pier 40 plan nixed on lease terms [Crain's]
· Partnership and CampGroup eye a partnership at Pier 40 [Villager]
· Curbed's Pier 40 coverage [Curbed]

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