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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... View full entry
ODA New York-designed condominiums, 98 Front Street, have opened in the heart of DUMBO. The 10-story luxury condominium comprises 165 studio, one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom residences ranging in size from 400 to over 2,000 square feet. Asking prices for the homes range from... View full entry
Architect John Calvin "Jack" Portman III has passed away at age 71. Jack, who passed away from natural causes, led Portman Architects following the death of his father, John Portman, in 2017. Jack earned a Bachelor of Architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a Master of... View full entry
Real estate magnate Gerald D. Hines, the developer behind many of America's most iconic skyscrapers from the late-20th century, has passed away at age 95. Hines is perhaps best known as the backer for many of downtown Houston's skyline-altering developments, including SOM's One Shell Plaza... View full entry
“I would be disgusted if we had to drive through downtown Los Angeles for generations and see buildings marking the city skyline that were achieved through bribery and corruption,” said Councilman Paul Krekorian, who has also proposed barring developers implicated in criminal conduct from getting any future approvals. — The Los Angeles Times
Emily Alpert Reyes of The Los Angeles Times takes a look at the handful of projects that have been tied to an ongoing federal corruption investigation targeting Los Angeles City Council member Jose Huizar and investigates how planning approvals for some those projects may be impacted by their... View full entry
One Los Angeles city councilman, now out of office, admitted last week that he accepted envelopes of cash from a businessman in casino bathrooms. [...]
Yet another council member allegedly sought a $500,000 cash bribe from a real estate developer, according to a plea deal struck between federal investigators and a political fundraiser who admitted collecting much of the money in a paper bag.
— Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times reporters David Zahniser and Emily Alpert Reyes shed light on the growing number of municipal corruption scandals in Los Angeles. A probe by the Federal Bureau of Investigations has revealed the degree to which real estate development plays a role in feeding “pay-to-play”... View full entry
Matthew Rosenberg, CEO of M-Rad Inc, has launched a new online course for GoArchitect's DesignClass called Learn to Lead with Matthew Rosenberg. In the course, Rosenberg shares the lessons he's learned throughout his career and presents fresh ways to operate as an architectural... View full entry
We've seen some of pop culture's most prominent figures break into architecture in recent years. There was Brad Pitt's "informal apprenticeship" with Frank Gehry and his subsequent Make It Right Foundation. We have Kanye West, and his exploratory activities within the field of affordable housing... View full entry
Development is in the works for another park-adjacent parcel near the Metro’s Gold Line station in Chinatown. An LLC submitted plans on Thursday to the city to build 243 live/work units on a property on North Main and Sotello streets, a block away from Los Angeles State Historic Park. — Curbed LA
According to Curbed, the site is currently in use as a produce distribution center. View full entry
At a community meeting last week, four developers pitched plans for a Metro-owned property above the under-construction 1st/Central subway station in Little Tokyo...Though the station site is 1.2 acres, the property only offers a 14,500-square-foot building pad due to the diagonal orientation of the 1st/Central station box. — Urbanize LA
"Metro released a request for qualifications to prospective developers in August 2018, and received eight responses by January 2019," reports Urbanize. Of those eight, four have moved forward: Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC), who has teamed up with FSY Architects; Centre Urban Real Estate... View full entry
JBG Smith, the biggest developer in the D.C. area and landlord of Amazon’s future Northern Virginia headquarters, Tuesday announced that it would redevelop about 2.6 million square feet of space at five multifamily buildings and an office building in Crystal City. The buildings are all within half a mile of the Amazon headquarters site and near Reagan National Airport, representing part of a broader development push in the area now called “National Landing.” — Curbed DC
In total, JBG Smith plans to redevelop around 6.9 million square feet at National Landing with a third of that area devoted to office space and the rest developed as residential spaces that could generate between 4,000 and 5,000 dwelling units, as well as ground floor retail, reports Curbed DC... View full entry
After abruptly closing in late 2018, a developer has big plans for the old Art Institute building at 1200 Lincoln Street. The Nichols Partnership has purchased the building and plans on converting it into roughly 130 micro-units...The units will range from 300 to 425 square feet. — CBS Denver
"We shoot for several hundred dollars below the cheapest conventional apartment. So if a studio apartment in a bigger building is $1500-$1700, we want to be at $1100-$1200," developer Randy Nichols told CBS, advocating for the affordability the apartments will bring to the city. According to CBS... View full entry
Former planning director Michael LoGrande recently admitted to violating city ethics laws by lobbying planning department officials just months after leaving his job running the agency. — The Los Angeles Times
This week, the City of Los Angeles Ethics Commission voted to fine former Los Angeles City Planning director Michael LoGrande $281,250 for violating the city’s “revolving door” rules. The fine is the largest single penalty ever levied against a current or former city employee, according... View full entry
Emily Helen Butterfield, born August 4, 1884, was the first licensed woman architect in Michigan. Butterfield grew up in Detroit with a love of watercolor painting, and eventually studied architecture at Syracuse University, where she was a founding member of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority... View full entry
In Seattle, Austin, New York, Denver, Minneapolis, Washington and the Bay Area, developers are the antiheroes of an urban drama over the high cost of housing and what must change to bring it down.
But their arch-villain status today — merely invoking “developers” can shut down civic debate — deserves scrutiny
— The New York Times
The New York Times profiles the real estate developer, an arch-villain of contemporary society who, by some accounts, makes too much money, bulldozes humble neighborhoods to make room for the rich, and wills inequality and displacement as a matter of business. But is there another side... View full entry
