NEW YORK | Projects & Construction

[kazpmk]

^Exciting. It's about time.

[FROM LOS ANGELES]

I think Goldman Sachs is going to mix in okay with FT.

[TalB]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/27/ny...r=1&oref=login
A Plan to Rebuild by 2012, and Doubts on the Big Rush

By CHARLES V. BAGLI
Published: April 27, 2006

The new plan for ground zero calls for the accelerated construction of a sprawling commercial complex: 8.8 million square feet of office space in four towers 58 to 70 stories high. All would open within a year of each other, by 2012.

Gov. George E. Pataki and others say the conceptual plan, officially approved yesterday by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey after months of gridlock, will rejuvenate Lower Manhattan and ensure that it remains the financial capital of the world.

But some construction and real estate industry executives, and some urban planners, hear echoes of the hoopla surrounding the original World Trade Center project more than 30 years ago. They are questioning whether the rapid building of so much speculative office space would have the same destabilizing consequences for the downtown market as the twin towers had in the 1970's.

Some experts are even wondering whether there will be enough steel, concrete and curtain wall to build the four towers by 2012 at the same time that two baseball stadiums, the $2 billion Goldman Sachs headquarters, the $1.7 billion expansion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, Moynihan Station, 10,000 apartments and various subway projects are under construction.

Yesterday, the influential Regional Plan Association and the Fiscal Policy Institute welcomed the plan, but they, like many developers, continued to question the wisdom of building the tallest of the skyscrapers, the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower, intended to be a symbol of the city's resilience.

They said the tower would stand too far from public transportation and was unlikely to attract corporate tenants, who view it as a potential terrorist target. Some government officials suggested that the site be brought up to street level and then put into mothballs next year.

"The Freedom Tower is a disastrous idea that should be scratched," said Susan S. Fainstein, a professor of urban planning at Columbia University.

Kathryn S. Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, was far more upbeat. "This agreement will provide a significant boost to the economy of Lower Manhattan by eliminating much of the uncertainty regarding the area's economic future," she said, adding that businesses would be lured by the neighborhood's comparatively low business costs.

But one thing is certain: the cost of the buildings, now estimated at $6.3 billion, is going to jump. Jones Lang LaSalle, the real estate company advising the Port Authority, has built inflation into the numbers. Construction costs are continuing to escalate, at the rate of 1 percent a month.

"I don't know how long it'll continue," said Frank J. Sciame, the former chairman of the New York Building Congress, "but that's the case for the next year or two."

The World Trade Center, a 10 million-square-foot office complex built by the Port Authority, opened in late 1970 during one of the worst real estate markets since the Depression. To provide anchor tenants for the 110-story towers, state agencies moved into two million square feet of space in one tower, and the Port Authority took 900,000 square feet in the second.

The trade center also offered subsidized rents to lure tenants out of surrounding buildings, angering local landlords.

It was not until the mid-1980's that the state began relocating to other buildings. And a breakthrough came in 1985, when Dean Witter Financial Services leased 24 floors in Tower 2, opening the way for other financial firms. Still, occupancy fluctuated wildly until 1998, when companies fleeing high rents in Midtown pushed the occupancy rate to 98 percent.

In late 2002, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg outlined his vision for downtown and drew on some of the lessons of the trade center. He said that it made no sense to rush ahead to rebuild the 10 million square feet of lost office space.

"If we are honest with ourselves," he said, "we will recognize that the impact on our city was not all positive. The twin towers' voracious appetite for tenants weakened the entire downtown market."

But last fall, Mr. Bloomberg started calling for the ground zero project to accelerate. And the plan approved yesterday moves the completion date for the four office towers to 2012, from 2015.

Government agencies — city, state, federal and the Port Authority — are expected to account for 25 percent of the 8.8 million square feet, only slightly less space than they took up in the twin towers in 1972.

"The need to relocate government offices to the World Trade Center in the 1970's was a sign of the economic failure of that project," said David Dyssegaard Kallick, a senior fellow at the Fiscal Policy Institute. "It would make more sense to ensure that we fully fund the public spaces, like the memorial and the performing arts center. Then, allow for the gradual development of the office space with market demand."

One downtown landlord, who expects to lose his government tenant to the new trade center complex, said, "They're about to make the same mistake they did in the 1970's."

The executive, who was granted anonymity because he did not want to damage his relationship with his largest tenant, a government agency, predicted: "They'll pull all the city, state and federal agencies out of other buildings and put them in there. It'll take a long time for other owners to relet their buildings."

Barry M. Gosin, chief executive of Newmark Knight Frank, a real estate firm, also said the timetable was too short. "They'll be competing with themselves," he said. "They should leave a few sites zoned and ready to go when demand dictates."

But Bill Rudin, a third-generation developer and a major downtown landlord, said that his family was one of the few in real estate who supported the trade center in 1970, and that he supported the new ground zero plan. He said that while a few downtown companies would move to the new towers, most would come from outside the area.

"There is a need for this type of space," he said. "In the last year or so, we've seen Midtown tighten and companies being priced out. Where are they going to but downtown?"

Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that he was still concerned about building all four towers simultaneously, which "may very well lead to too much office space coming on the market at one time." But, he added, the empty holes at the trade center site have become a "great disincentive to rent downtown."

"On balance," the mayor said, "I'd just as soon get everything going."

Still, it may be physically impossible to build all four towers by 2012, as well as the memorial, the museum, the $2 billion PATH terminal and other nearby projects. Even before the accelerated schedule, Charles J. Maikish, executive director of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center, estimated that there would be 10,000 to 15,000 construction workers a day on ground zero projects over the next three to five years.

The trade center site will be competing for materials and labor with a dozen other major projects, including the extension of the No. 7 subway line on the West Side and the construction of the Second Avenue Subway on the East Side.

[Liwwadden]

nice work, and NY is was, is and will be the skyscrapercapital of the world

[Woko]

Nice projects here!!! I really love the 15 Central Park West.


But you forgot this shit:

[centreoftheuniverse]

Calatrava's 80 SS is doubtful.

[TroyBoy]

It like 50 mill for one cube.

[TalB]

Here is a recent shot of the Brooklyn Marriot expansion by Randy Sanford over at SSP, though I don't find it to be that special nor does it look anything like the Marriot Hotel itself.

[Ebola]

I really hope that 80 South Street gets built! Anyway, that Goldman Sachs Headquarters tower is getting built right next to the new WTC, right? That will add another scrapper!

Is this the location?

[iahcgnoht]

l love new york

[Scruffy88]

Originally Posted by Ebola

I really hope that 80 South Street gets built! Anyway, that Goldman Sachs Headquarters tower is getting built right next to the new WTC, right? That will add another scrapper!

Is this the location?

That is the spot alright. Its interesting that people say that downtown is experiencing a low right now. If you stood at the spot where the Freedom Tower is going to rise, in 5 square blocks around you, you have 12 barclay rising, goldman sachs, 200 chamber street, that thing on warren st, 7wtc finishing up. a major remodel for the big subway stations downtown. i dont think downtown has seen this much development since the 70s

[SaRaJeVo-City]

Originally Posted by Woko

Nice projects here!!! I really love the 15 Central Park West.


But you forgot this shit:

What a idiotic building, lets all pray it doesnt get build since it would ruin the whole, damn cubes stacked on top of each other....how stupid.

[Ebola]

It's odd, but not stupid.

[SaRaJeVo-City]

Originally Posted by Ebola

It's odd, but not stupid.

Just doesn't fit in with the rest of the skyline, its too empty in a way.

[nygirl]

Originally Posted by newcastle kid

No doubt it will be for a good few years yet, but have you seen China? The economy is growing so fast they don't know what to do with it! The cities are growing at an alarming rate, one city I think completes something like 20,000 sqmeters of office space per day!

It is getting so powerfull that soon no one will be able to keep up with it, and power= money, and money= big cities and big buildings.

I doubt any chinese city will ever have the heart of cities like NYC, or London, or Paris though, and on alot of levels I guess that is what counts!

Anyway back on topic! As I said great buildings, but it's a shame they werent past 1,000 to roof height, well I guess we will just have to wait for the Freedom tower! Whats the deal with that anyway?

People said the same thing about japan in the 1980's so from now on, i am going to yawn to this.

[TalB]

This shot from flickr shows that 40 Mercer St is nearing completion.

[krull]

Ok sorry about not updating the Freedom Tower on time... I was in Southern California for a week, with no access to the internet unfortunately.

So it is underconstruction!

[krull]

Residential construction booming in NYC


by Tom Fredrickson
April 28, 2006

At a time when residential construction is cooling nationally, it's on fire in New York City.

New York City builders filed permits to pour $665 million into new residential construction in the first quarter of 2006, 55% more than the comparable period of last year's torrid pace, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The number of units permitted increased by 30% to 7,697 over the same period. "It's pretty much unprecedented," says city Building Commissioner Patricia Lancaster.

The growth is being driven by the surging value of residential property, which makes it easy for builders to make the numbers work on residential projects, Ms. Lancaster says. What's more, the growth is largely unhampered by zoning restrictions because many areas of the city allow for much denser housing than exists presently.

The following is a breakdown by borough:

Staten Island leapt 385% to 296 units, with a 387% increase in residential construction value.

Manhattan experienced a 38% rise in permits, to 2,466, with a 68% increase in construction value.

Queens permits surged 51% to 1,647 units, with a 69% increase in value.

Brooklyn saw a 2% increase in number of units permitted, rising to 2,265, with a 20% increase in construction value.

The Bronx saw a 38% jump in units permitted, rising to 1,074, with a 64% increase in construction value.


©2006 Crain Communications Inc.

[krull]

Mike: I'll never west





BY MICHAEL SAUL
DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF
April 28, 2006

Nearly a year after Mayor Bloomberg's grand plan to bring the Jets back to New York collapsed in a spectacular defeat, the city is moving forward with a massive effort to revitalize Manhattan's far West Side.

"Other than the stadium, there is nothing that's not going according to plan," said Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, who is spearheading City Hall's effort to redevelop the area bounded by Seventh Ave., 28th St., 43rd St. and the Hudson River.

"All of the hopes that we had for the Hudson Yards remain as realistic as we would have thought a year ago," Doctoroff told the Daily News. "And a lot of things are moving along."

Doctoroff said the $2 billion extension of the No. 7 subway line from Times Square to the West Side will be a major motivator for development. Construction is to begin by year's end.

"That in many ways is the catalyst. That's what people are sort of waiting on, particularly from a commercial perspective," he said.

Doctoroff told The News the city is "beginning the process" of stitching together an alternative plan for the site of the proposed Jets stadium that was torpedoed last June by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R-Rensselaer).

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Chelsea), one of the most vocal opponents of the Jets stadium, said the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the site's owner, should have solicited new bids by now.

MTA officials and Doctoroff confirmed there is still no timetable to do so. "You want to do something that's thoughtful," the deputy mayor said.

But other than the stadium, Quinn said she is "very happy with the way the rest of the Hudson Yards and the far west Chelsea area is moving forward. "The city rezoned the area, providing for 24 million square feet of office space, 13,500 units of housing and a million square feet of retail.

Construction is to begin soon on the expansion of the Javits Center, and design work on a midblock park and boulevard between 10th and 11th Aves., from 33rd to 39th Sts., is to also begin later this year.

Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday he wasn't concerned about competition between redevelopment in lower Manhattan and the far West Side.

"What we're trying to do is to develop throughout this whole city," said Bloomberg, adding that the No. 7 line is key to the success of the West Side.

"Once that's there, that will be a very hot real estate market."


All contents © 2006 Daily News, L.P.

[krull]

NIMBY's are mad!!!


Fighting New Heights on the Upper West Side



Ariel East, one of two towers
being built on Broadway, between
99th and 100th Streets. Some
neighborhood groups that oppose
the project are seeking rezoning.


By JOSEPH BERGER
Published: May 1, 2006

When it gets mad, the upper Upper West Side springs fiercely into combat — most of the time, that is.

It was in the book-cluttered apartments between 96th Street and 110th Street where much of the successful plot to defeat a $1.1 billion West Side superhighway was hatched, leaving a governor and a mayor choking in the organizers' dust in 1985. In a smaller skirmish six years ago, residents were upset that a CVS pharmacy had opened on a stretch of Broadway that already had two Duane Reades and a Rite Aid. Petitions, pickets and a boycott followed and, a year and half later, the CVS closed its doors.

Yet, almost no one had any idea about what some see as a much more serious threat to the neighborhood's character. Its zoning is so generous that it allowed Ariel East and Ariel West, two luxury towers — one that at 38 stories would be twice as tall as any other building around it — to be erected opposite each other on Broadway, without the daunting gantlet of a West Side review.

Those towers are inexorably rising, and that is why the neighborhood, shocked into action, is hurrying to rezone before developers begin tearing down shops, supermarkets and other low-rise sites and replacing them with other tall apartment buildings.

"The race is to get it finished before new owners start their projects," said Miki Fiegel, president of West Siders for Responsible Development, a neighborhood group pushing for low-scale zoning.

Time is a factor, because right now any entrepreneur who assembles a lot of sufficient size can — without any community review — match the height of the two towers, and there are at least a half dozen spots ripe for such development.

The battle on the Upper West Side is also being played out in various forms in the South Bronx, in Midwood and Red Hook, Brooklyn, and in other neighborhoods as the city struggles with the blessings of low crime and rising home values. But few neighborhoods can match turnouts like the 700 residents who attended a recent meeting at a neighborhood synagogue, Ansche Chesed. Ethel Sheffer, chairwoman of a Community Board 7 task force that is evaluating new zoning proposals, said older and poorer residents voiced fears that their apartments might be torn down and that they would be pushed out.

"They said, 'There won't be places for people like me,' " she said.

Any rezoning plan must eventually be approved by the City Council.

At stake is the personality of a neighborhood not quite like any of the city's others. It is a raffish mix of writers, leftists, musicians — Judy Collins and Lorin Hollander have apartments here — housing project tenants, the formerly homeless and, increasingly, Wall Street investors. Politically, it is liberal and generates one of the city's largest election turnouts. Ethnically, it crosses the globe, whiter on the affluent east and west margins, more black and Latino residents in the middle.

According to the 2000 census, of the 52,032 residents in the tracts between 97th Street and 110th Street from Central Park to the Hudson River, 43.3 percent were white, 31.8 percent were Hispanic, 16.7 were black and 5.1 percent were Asian.

The stout old co-op buildings are less expensive and sometimes dingier than those to the south between 96th Street and Lincoln Center, and there are fewer brownstones, more tenements and more than 30 single-room occupancy buildings. Even though the median rent is $756, the median value of the owner-occupied co-ops, condos and brownstones is $328,561.

Many onetime socialists are, to their embarrassment, millionaires on paper. Along Broadway, there are plenty of idiosyncratic shops, but a crop of new banks and chain drugstores have piqued fears about Banana Republics or Gaps to come.

This being the West Side, the rezoning push has set off feuding. The differences among the factions sound technical, but they essentially represent a clash between those who want to keep the neighborhood as close to its present scale as possible and those who think it should do its part in building enough housing for the city's swelling population.



Andrew S. Dolkart of Columbia
University leading a tour of the
Upper West Side for Landmark
West, a group that promotes
the neighborhood's architectural
preservation.



Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company