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The Hudson Yards Development Corp. and Community Board 4 held a joint-meeting yesterday evening to outline requirements for any plans to develop the 26 acre Hudson Rail Yards, one of the largest under-developed pieces of property in Manhattan. The presentation detailed development guidelines that include a requirement that 20% of all residential housing be "affordable" and the establishment of open park space. Interested attendees included advocates for the preservation of the High Line. The state hasn't expressed an overwhelming interest in preserving the long-abandoned elevated rail line and has expressed concern that its preservation could limit the profitability of the Rail Yards development. Groups like Friends of the High Line think the section above 30th St. could provide a vital link to the area's past for businesses and new residents. They also point to how the ongoing park-ification of the High Line in Chelsea and the Meatpacking District has benefitted those neighborhoods.
Last night's meeting was not quite the beginning, but an important early milestone in the process of developing the Hudson Rail Yards. Five major developers are said to be interested in taking on the project and the site's owner, the MTA, should put the project out to bid in the next few weeks, continuing the long process of developer selection, community review, and city approval. We also anticipate lawsuits of some kind or another. No development plan worth its salt doesn't come without a good number of lawsuits attached.
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Why shouldn't the MTA be able to get the maximum amount of money possible for this parcel of land? I don't think they should be restricted to 20% low income housing and keeping the highline. The reason I say this at that location, the Hudson river park is directly across the street, so there is no reason for this redundancy and second, do we really need subsidized housing in the wall street area when only a few will benefit and if the MTA can maximize their investment, many millions will benefit. Just my opinion.
1, agreed. They should really get these building up as soon as possible because the suburbs of Manhattan are already showing declines in price. if they don't strike while the iron is still hot we will have this hole in the ground for another few generations. if they maximize market housing at this site, it should help being prices generally down because we are talking about a lot of units here. developers are not going to want to be saddled with these "affordable" clauses in a real estate market turning down so the site will sit.
enough with the subsidized housing bullsh*t..this should be 100% market rate
Just a point of information: the Hudson Rail Yards are not even close to being "in the wall sreet area", unless one is looking at them from a statewide perspective.
And if the city doesn't do this right we'll have created an eyesore and public planning mistake that will take generations to fix. Rushing through is not the answer.
i agree to some extent, but doing this right does not mean handcuffing the development to low income housing, like #1 said, the MTA should be allowed to maximize its income on this deal for everyones good, not take less to subsidize housing which will then costs tax payers over time, both for the MTA and for the income differential on the apartments created.
R [5], the reality is these buildings would be private developments with some percentage restrictions or not. So realistically, one way or another you would have very little say in how they look. The real question is whether something gets built or not, and thats all based on the viability of the economics.
I think there's a point being missed here.... the developers are going to make a fortune - a fortune - on this area whether there is subsidized housing there or not. So the subsidized housing should not stop the MTA from charging top dollar (which is necessary since they're always broke) for this space, nor should it stop developers from paying it. If the MTA or the developers say that the subsidized housing is keeping them from a profit, then they are being disingenuous at best. 20% subsidized housing will not kill anyone of these fatcats.
Tim N., money doesn't fall from the sky, someone has to pay for non-market rate housing, so I dont understand how you can maintain that the MTA will stand to make the same money.
Simple:
City: You want to build here, this what you have to do.
Developers: OK.
MTA: You want to build here, this is what it costs.
Developers: OK.
It will still be worth it to developers to build there.
And... the MTA will get the money it needs, the community will be on board so the developers don't have to spend money fighting lawsuits, there will be tax breaks coming their way... believe me, 1 out of 5 units being subsidized is not going to cost anyone anything. It's not like they have to build a housing project, for crying out loud.
whatever you say... glad you know how the process works. LOL