All stories about "Manhattan West"

Not long ago, Mayor Bloomberg called the redevelopment of the Far West Side "the single most important economic project that this city has undertaken in decades." He was talking about Moynihan Station, Hudson Yards, the Javits Center expansion and the extension of the 7-train. Now, most of those projects are in various stages of disarray (or in the case of Javits, death) and critics have been lining up to pound the rest into submission, citing factors like the credit crunch and poor planning. We've been rounding up these stories under the rubric West Side Doom & Gloom, and Charles Bagli's story on West Side redevelopment in the Times today is by far the gloomiest and doomiest. The argument is made that commercial development will be slow to creep west, especially if Moynihan Station doesn't get done.

That's why, some argue, all resources should be focused on Moynihan—even a smaller version if the Garden stays put—before work begins at Hudson Yards. Oh, and Hudson Yards should be completely rethought, too, because it sucks. Or at least David Childs thinks so. The situation on the West Side is now even more delicate with the addition of Brookfield Properties' Manhattan West. As we speculated, rejected Hudson Yards tenant Condé Nast has been negotiating with Brookfield for one of two office towers planned for the SOM Yards, but that too could be in jeopardy if Moynihan stalls. Ugh! Well, at least the High Line will make its way up there. Maybe.
· West Side Redevelopment Plans in Disarray [NYT]
· Moynihan Station Deathblow: MSG Pulls Out of Plan? [Curbed]
· Yardsmania: From 'Grim Referendum' to 'Damning Indictment' [Curbed]

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Now that the Durst Organization and Vornado Realty Trust are also-rans in the Hudson Yards sweepstakes (but hey, a silver medal ain't bad), the companies' proposed anchor tenant—magazine megapublisher Condé Nast—may be looking to switch sides. In today's Women's Wear Daily (a Condé title), Amy Wicks writes that the company "possibly has a shot at office space under Tishman Speyer's plan." Also, Morgan Stanley may be back on board, even though they dumped Tishman a little while back. Oh, so now that Tishman is the hot shit in town, you want to get back together, Morgan? Yeesh! Anyway, getting back to Condé Nast, a memo was sent out to employees by COO John Bellando that read:

Last October, I informed you of our intention to consider constructing a new office tower in connection with a proposal by The Durst Organization and Vornado Realty Group to develop the West Side Rail Yard - also known as the Hudson Yards.

Yesterday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority selected a different bidder to develop this property. However, several other promising real estate development opportunities have been brought to our attention and we intend to continue to explore all of our options for a new office tower in the 2013 - 2016 timeframe.

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Click the image above to view the full photogallery.

With Tishman Speyer now in the driver's seat at the Hudson Yards (proposal images above), let's take a closer look at the West Side's new overlords. Founded in 1978 by partners Robert Tishman and Jerry Speyer, Tishman Speyer has grown to become one of the largest real estate development/investment/management firms in the country, if not—dramatic pause—the world. Signature properties in Tishman Speyer's portfolio include the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center and Berlin's Sony Center.

In 2006, Tishman Speyer purchased the middle-class enclave of Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village in Manhattan for a record $5.4 billion, and the company has been busy gussying it up and shifting the apartments to pricey market-rate rentals. Soon after, the company set another record, selling the office building at 666 Fifth Avenue for $1.8 billion. Phew. OK, now that that's settled, let's focus on the future of the rail yards, twice the acreage of the World Trade Center and almost as complicated. The $1.004 billion deal with the MTA for the development rights may be settles, but there are many questions left to be answered.

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Economic slowdown be damned, Brookfield Properties is moving full steam ahead on its gigantic Manhattan West office park on the west side rail yards that aren't quite the West Side Rail Yards. The company has enlisted the services of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill—the same firm behind the two signature towers of Brookfield's Hudson Yards bid—to design two more huge office towers for Manhattan West, which, confusingly, is just to the east. At top right, a rendering of the new buildings, as well as a refresher on the hypothetical One and Two Hudson Place at Hudson Yards. Our initial gut reaction was that SOM is being lazy, but then we realized the genius. Now Brookfield has to win the development rights for Hudson Yards, just so the design becomes contextual.
· Brookfield Taps SOM for Other West Side Rail Yards [The Real Estate]
· Brookfield Births 'Manhattan West' on Hudson Yards' Doorstep [Curbed]
· Yardsmania #1: Brookfield Properties Goes Splittsville [Curbed]

In a day filled with West Side development news, the biggest piece of intel just hit the wire. Brookfield Properties, the massive commercial landlord and one of the companies bidding on the Hudson Yards, has announced it will develop the other West Side rail yards, right smack in between the Hudson Yards and Penn Station. Bloomberg reports that Brookfield will start constructing a platform over the rails in June, and three acres and 5.4 million square feet of fresh new office and mixed-use develop space will be created. The $600 million project has been dubbed Manhattan West, and the platform is expected to be completed in late 2010. The first tower could be finished by 2013. The site runs from 31st to 33rd Streets, and Ninth Avenue to the Lincoln Tunnel approach. Yardsmania!
· Brookfield Properties Reports Strong Performance and Growth in 2007 [Yahoo! Finance]
· Yardsmania #1: Brookfield Properties Goes Splittsville [Curbed]