Sneak Peek: Hudson Park & Boulevard

Moinian, Related, and Brookfield are building so much on their combined 35 acres on the Far West Side, it’s hard to wrap your head around it. That’s why Bisnow is hosting a Future of Manhattan’s Far West Side event on June 25 at Espace on West 42nd Street.

We got a sneak peek at the under-construction Hudson Park & Boulevard (conceptualized as the new Park Avenue, only wider) with Avison Young’s Anthony LoPresti, and Moinian’s Oskar Brecher (who will be a panelist at our event) and Aron Kirsch, and The LiRo Group’s Felix Rubenstein and Dan Bradley. The progress is stunning, and the first three blocks will open by the end of the year. We snapped the guys at 36th Street and Hudson Boulevard West, which already is paved and will run south from 38th into Moinian’s 3 Hudson Blvd at 35th Street. The northbound Hudson Boulevard East will run from 33rd to 38th. The park will run between the boulevards (each will be 30 feet wide), and the 33rd to 36th stretch will deliver by the end of the year.

Also at 36th Street, a cafe/concession stand already is in the works. (No line! Now's your chance.) Oskar tells us the Hudson Yards/Hell’s Kitchen BID, formed just weeks ago, likely will be active in the City’s RFP and selection process.

Paving for the winding sidewalk has begun, and the Dickensian light posts that line it already are up. A playground will eventually replace the dirt mover (though it no doubt would be popular with the kids if it stayed). In the background, Related’s first Hudson Yards office tower is going higher every day.

This may look like the beginnings of a streetlight, but it's actually an art installation designed by James Carpenter Design Associates. The installation will be 50 feet tall and will have 20 light sources, so both the pole and the surrounding ground will be canvases for the light show.

Just south of 35th Street, the 7 train’s northern exit is taking shape. To the left of these stairs, four escalators will take passengers 40 feet down to the turnstiles, and then another set of escalators will go another 80 feet to the platform, which will stretch two blocks to the station's southern entrance at the foot of Moinian’s 3 Hudson Blvd.

What we’re about to tell you will change you forever. To create rolling hillsides, geofoam is cheaper than real dirt (leave it to the real estate industry to find something that actually is cheaper than dirt). Just stack a few tiers of foam like steps, cover with sand to make an even slope, and put down some soil.

We snapped Oskar and Anthony in front of the 3 Hudson Blvd site, which will become one of two office buildings that will sit directly adjacent to a park (not separated by a road). The office buildings on Park Avenue are on average 50 years older than the new ones rising on the Far West Side, Anthony tells us, and Oskar says that translates to 20% to 30% savings in operations, from energy-efficient elevators to column-free space to safety. And while the delay in rezoning Midtown East allows the local real estate market to deal with one thing at a time—the Far West Side and then Midtown East—Aron says the East Side has a significant role to play, as well. NYC needs 60M SF to 80M SF of new office space over the next 40 years, he says.

The southern 7 train entrance, just south of 34th, gives a closer glimpse at what the finished product will look like. Picone Contracting, which long has worked on government projects, is building the subway and may also build the foundation for build 3 Hudson Boulevard foundation, which would be its first major private-sector project. Aron tells us the 7 train stop at Hudson Boulevard is designed to handle 30,000 people an hour.

The park from 33rd to 34th shows off the almost finished product. Aron says there are 12,000 plants and trees on this block alone. (Who needs fancy oxygen bars when you've got an oxygen block?) Oskar tells us the park and boulevard were conceived as part of NYC’s Olympics bid and a parking facility originally was going to lie under the park.

The days of lounging around on park benches are closer than you think! Sign up for Bisnow’s Future of Manhattan’s Far West Side event here, and keep reading tomorrow for updates from Related and Brookfield.