Even more perilous, the promised second phase of Hudson Yards — eight additional buildings, including a school, more luxury condos and office space — appears on indefinite hold as the developer, the Related Companies, seeks federal financing for a nearly 10-acre platform on which it will be built.
Related, which had said the entire project would be finished in 2024, no longer offers an estimated completion date.
— The New York Times
The New York Times is reporting on the uncertain future of the $25 billion Hudson Yards mega-development in Manhattan’s Far West Side.
The starchitect-studded development is reeling from ongoing effects of the global Covid-19 pandemic, as luxury condos remain unsold and commercial tenants go under. Additionally, tourist attractions remain closed and the development's centerpiece—Heatherwick Studio's Vessel—has been closed following its third suicide in less than a year.
The situation enveloping Hudson Yards is representative of the state of speculative real estate across the country, though the Manhattan project is perhaps the nation's largest single site. Developers, architects and the entire real estate vertical are rethinking the needs of cities in which dramatically more people are working from home, demand for office space is shrinking, and delivery services are bringing more food and products directly to our doorsteps.
13 Comments
Hiring this guy would be a good choice.
Removal of the mall building would indeed be a good idea.
Wait but the Empire Station Complex is still going ahead?
i went on that schwarma thing. it was ok
Developers, architects and the entire real estate vertical are rethinking the needs of cities
When did "vertical" with this meaning become common usage? I swear language is becoming more opaque every day. Is this just jargon?
Its pretty common with describing large companies traditionally ("Vertically integrated") but its now used a lot more often with startups emphasizing their ability to control a product from conception to delivery.
it seems like a misuse of the term since the distinguishing characteristic of real estate development is that it's not vertically integrated, it's just a bunch of different parties with their own priorities who need to work together for a while if a project is going to get done - which is why they often don't. "vertically disintegrated"?
Indeed, maybe some of the biggest Japanese and Korean conglomerates might count as being truly vertically integrated if their business encompasses development, design, construction, and property leasing/management. The AECOMs of the West don't really fit the bill unless you restrict the industry verticals to design/construction only. But the draw of using that term is precisely to combat the standard project-based work arrangement that you described - the startups people want to run a tech/manufacturing model where the business is capable of working on a production line of projects rather than having to collaborate with new partners on every project. Katerra was trying to go for that approach - working with a developer that happened to be owned by a co-founder, manufacturing its own raw materials, producing all its building parts, and then assembling them. Growing pains unfortunately.
A vertical is still a vertical, integrated or not.
Remove the Vessel and create a suspended deck park on the rest of the site. Which is what should have been done with the original site (Holl proposal). Cuomo is a dupe, who will waste more federal money on his grand Empire State plan, which is a bunch of ad hoc faux solutions which don't solve anything and just add more problems. Design by corrupt public-private-media bureaucracy -- while Kimmelman fundraises for his "global issues" startup.
Funny how the Vessel became the project's kryptonite and is representative of all the larger development issues.
A new developer and new ideas are needed here. Blinded by hubris and myopically focused on an ultra-wealthy clientele and a design sensibility that begins and ends with Instagram, The Related Companies have proven to be pretty incompetent. The office towers that locked-in tenants pre-Covid appear to be the only financially successful component of the project.
Do you have any specific suggestions? Just curious to hear.
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