NEW YORK | 1 Manhattan West | 995 FT | 71 FLOORS

[Perklol]

Next year, construction will begin on a residential tower. Once anchor tenants are signed, two, 60-story office towers will follow.

60 floor office buildings seem to be the norm in the Hudson Yards area....

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

60 floor office buildings seem to be the norm in the Hudson Yards area....

MW is competing for similar office tenants as Oxford/Related, Moinan Group, etc. Probably a LOT of competition for (anchor) tenants for the office towers.

MW gave a media tour(s) earlier this week and the results (NYPost "excellent hardhat adventure Tuesday" posted previously by NYguy) are dribbling onto the web:

There's a post on Vimeo of
Quote:
"girder 8 being relocated from the underslung assembly bed to the stage 2 stressing location over girder 5"
Brookfield Manhattan West Construction
from McNary Bergeron & Associates 1 day ago
http://vimeo.com/101547918

IMHO the Vimeo posted clip probably has the most interesting visuals, so I've posted a snip below. You do NOT want to drop any of these "girders" on your foot.
Note 10 Hudson Yards visible through the 31st canyon on left:

McNary Bergeron & Associates

[Perklol]

Thanks for the update. Seems like this project will be completed on time.

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

Thanks for the update. Seems like this project will be completed on time.

The bridge/platform. And the residence tower, maybe. Wonder when they will start covering Dyer Ave...

The start of the MW office towers have to compete against everybody else planning on building office towers for the ~fixed pool of anchor tenants.

[ILNY]

[ILNY]

From MW Facebook page:



"Span 8 was placed early this morning. The platform is now 50% complete (eight more spans to go)!"

https://www.facebook.com/ManhattanWe...190928/?type=1

[NYguy]

http://www.rew-online.com/2014/08/06...new-manhattan/

Lone office building a grey area for Brookfield as giant presses ahead with building a new Manhattan









By Konrad Putzier
August 6, 2014

There is a mysterious grey square on the otherwise well-labelled site map of Brookfield’s Manhattan West project.

It is nestled in the middle of a U-shaped string of planned restaurants, retail units, an office tower and a hotel, exactly where planners might envision a public plaza.

As it turns out, the grey square is a 13-story office building owned by Raju Shah’s Vectra Management Group. It is the only building on the block not under Brookfield’s control, and has become the figurative thorn in the side of the company’s $4.5 billion mixed-use megaproject.

For years, Vectra has resisted Brookfield’s attempts to buy the pre-war building at 424 West 33rd Street, forcing the company to build around it, measure every tiny vibration and limit construction work during business hours.

But Brookfield isn’t the only party with reason to be unhappy. Construction noise and the prospect of less daylight once the towers are complete are a problem for Vectra, and the company has been forced to offer tenants rent discounts to keep the building fully leased.

A sale would be a win-win situation right out of a business school textbook. That it hasn’t happened is, unsurprisingly, due to differences over money.

“Brookfield hasn’t made an offer that we found acceptable,” Vectra’s managing director Raju Shah told Real Estate Weekly. He added that he believes the building will ultimately benefit from the new development at Hudson Yards, Manhattan West and Moynihan Station, and that Vectra would be fine with keeping it. But between the lines, Shah indicated that a sale might still happen. “There is still time,” he said. “We say it’s not for sale, but of course there is a price for everything.”

At Manhattan West, Brookfield plans to build three mixed-used towers, low-rise retail buildings, a hotel and a public plaza between 32nd and 33rd Streets and 9th and 10th Avenues. It has already begun covering up the railroad tracks that make up most of the block and will remain operational. Seven of the 16 concrete spans that will cover the tracks are in place, and the company said it plans to have finished the platform by the end of the year.

Shah speculates that the company can still change its plans at this point and might have an incentive to buy the 200,000 s/f building. Tearing it down would create enough space for a fourth tower to replace the low-rise buildings currently planned around Vectra’s building.

Vectra, a private real estate investment, development and management firm, owns a number of properties across the U.S., including a portfolio of buildings in the Meatpacking District at 14th Street and Ninth Avenue.

According to Shah, Vectra and Brookfield aren’t currently in talks over a sale, leaving the site’s engineers with a major headache.

In order to avoid any damage to 424 West 33rd’s foundation, engineers and monitors check vibrations, helped by a system that triggers an alarm each time they reach a certain strength. Shah also said he pushed Brookfield not to do its blasting during business hours.

Brookfield declined to comment for this article. A company executive had previously confirmed that Brookfield had inquired about buying 424 West 33rd Street.

Vectra took over the building in late 2000. At that time, Brookfield already controlled most of the block, but plans for a large mixed-use project didn’t take off until the company purchased a parcel at its north-east corner in the mid-2000s.

First plans for Manhattan West were filed in 2008, but ended up being shelved during the recession. Construction finally began in January 2013.

Shah didn’t specify when Brookfield approached him about buying 424 West 33rd Street.

Robert Knakal, chairman of commercial brokerage Massey Knakal, said there are compelling reasons for Vectra to keep the building. “New development of any kind enhances a neighborhood,” he said, adding that construction work is not particularly disruptive to adjacent offices.

Any sale would be complicated by the building’s ownership structure. In 2012, Planned Parenthood bought the 104,000 s/f office space it had previously leased from Vectra for a reported $34.8 million. Although Shah said Vectra owns the building’s exterior and air rights and can build additional floors, no one can tear it down without first buying out Planned Parenthood.

For now, it seems that 424 West 33rd Street is destined to be a very lonely remnant of the old New York amid the shiny new world of Manhattan West.

[Busy Bee]

:::::

[ILNY]

9th span, 7 more to go.




Source: MW Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/ManhattanWe...levant_count=1

[NYguy]

http://online.wsj.com/articles/r-ga-...est-1407725978

R/GA Media Signs On to Five Manhattan West
First Lease Signed at the Tower Since Brookfield Unveiled Its Plans for the Property at 450 W. 33rd St. in February


By Keiko Morris
Aug. 10, 2014

...Brookfield won't begin construction of its office towers in the Manhattan West project until it finds anchor tenants. But Mr. Mosler expects the makeover of Five Manhattan West
to boost that effort.

"This gives tremendous credibility to the project overall because it speaks to the quality of what Brookfield is building," he said.

http://www.constructionspecifier.com...west-platform/

[WestSideGuy]

Game Change!!!

http://www.nydailynews.com/developer...icle-1.1912003

EXCLUSIVE: Developer scores major tenant for $4.5 billion mega-project on far west side of Manhattan

One developer's risky bet on the far west side of Manhattan is already paying off.

Brookfield Properties, a development company building a $4.5 billion office and residential mega-project on five acres between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the West 30s, has secured a major tenant for the project, sources told the Daily News.

Law giant Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, has committed to relocating its global headquarters to the project, known as Manhattan West, once its lease expires at 4 Times Sq. in 2020. Sources say the firm has stated its intention to lease more than 500,000 square feet, making the deal one of the biggest of the year so far.

The deal is a major coup for Brookfield, which has been competing with a string of other developers for large-scale tenants such as Skadden. Big tenants are also being wooed for the World Trade Center, for instance, and for the nearby Hudson Yards megaproject, a $20 billion residential and commercial development comprising 16 skyscrapers at the site of the West Side rail yard.

Developer the Moinian Group also needs to sign an anchor tenant for a tower its planning at 3 Hudson Blvd., at 34th Street and Eleventh Ave., before it can go ahead with construction.

Sources said it was oddly early for Skadden to commit to a new building, since its lease does not expire for another six years, but it’s possible that Brookfield might buy Skadden out of its remaining lease in Times Sq. once it’s ready for the firm to move in.

Rents at Manhattan West range from about $75 to $80 per square foot, brokers said.

Skadden is the second major tenant to depart 4 Times Sq., following Conde Nast's decision to relocate to the Financial District from the tower. The Durst Organization, the owner of 4 Times Sq., must now seek new tenants or it could be left with an empty building in six years time.

Spokespersons for Skadden and Brookfield did not immediately return requests for comment.

[Crawford]

Here we go! With this huge office lease, here comes another NYC supertall.

Hopefully this will be a nice design complementing the other HY supertalls. The previous massing models are extremely generic, so I assume the anchor tenants will play a major role in the architectural design.

[Onn]

Wow, exciting news! Brookfield is on top of it! 500,000 square feet is a lot, that's one tower well on its way. 2020 is still quite a ways away but they need time to finish the platform and start construction on the actual towers.

[NYguy]

^ The platform itself will be done by the end of the year, and it really isn't for the towers, but to connect the space between, unlike the railyard towers of Related's project.

Originally Posted by WestSideGuy

Game Change!!!

http://www.nydailynews.com/developer...icle-1.1912003


Brookfield Properties, a development company building a $4.5 billion office and residential mega-project on five acres between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the West 30s, has secured a major tenant for the project, sources told the Daily News.

Law giant Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, has committed to relocating its global headquarters to the project, known as Manhattan West, once its lease expires at 4 Times Sq. in 2020. Sources say the firm has stated its intention to lease more than 500,000 square feet, making the deal one of the biggest of the year so far.

Sources said it was oddly early for Skadden to commit to a new building, since its lease does not expire for another six years, but it’s possible that Brookfield might buy Skadden out of its remaining lease in Times Sq. once it’s ready for the firm to move in.

That's what the PA did with Conde Nast to get the move Downtown.

Maybe we'll finally get some details about the first office tower. Good news.

[Crawford]

Do we know which of the two office towers is going up first? It looks like based on the article, the first tower has to be completed by 2020, but with this great news, hopefully Skadden Arps can move in sooner.

I really hope this tower matches the quality we see in Related's Hudson Yards project. Skadden Arps is the largest law firm in NYC and was the main tenant in 4 Times Square, so they will have a new landmark tower.

[Hudson11]

the news about Skadden is apparently false. It came from the daily news so it shouldn't come across as a surprise.

a refuting claim by a writer from the post: https://mobile.twitter.com/LoisWeiss...46187702894593

w/ a follow up YIMBY article http://www.yimbynews.com/2014/08/yim...-off-more.html

[Onn]

^
Maybe, maybe not! Just wait!

[babybackribs2314]

Originally Posted by Onn

^
Maybe, maybe not! Just wait!

it is not happening

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Hudson11

the news about Skadden is apparently false. It came from the daily news so it shouldn't come across as a surprise.

First, the news came from Crains NY, not the NY Daily News. Crains is very reliable.

Second, the NY Post is like 1000 times worse reporting than the Daily News.

And third, nowhere does the NY Post claim the news is false; they had a business reporter tweet that a lease hasn't been signed yet. The Post and Daily News always do this tit-for-tat arguing on "scoops". Nowhere is there anyone claiming that Skadden isn't coming to Manhattan West.

Skadden has been snooping around the site for months now, as reported by the major publications, so it makes sense. These big leases often take 6 months or longer to actually sign, so it could be technically true that nothing is actually set in stone, but it sounds like extremely good news. And Brooklfield is already their landlord in a few of their regional offices, so it would make sense moreso than Skadden going with Related or Moinian.

[Hudson11]

^ I never saw it on Crains. Neither the Post nor the Daily News are the greatest. I was just saying where the refuting claim came from, and bringing up that a deal has NOT been reached, which would make the information on the DN article false.


http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/0...evelopment.php

Monday, August 25, 2014, by Zoe Rosenberg
[...]
Reports earlier last week speculated that the best-named New York City-based law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom may anchor the development, but it seems that plan has fallen through.
[...]

The "seems" and the "maybes" ... annoying but ever present in real estate.