Quote:
Originally Posted by Blaze23
Tishman Speyer Buys Manhattan Site for $438 Million
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...453493756.html
The firm, controlled by the father-and-son team of Jerry and Rob Speyer, plans to build a 2.8-million-square-foot office tower on the site, which occupies a full block near several other huge projects that are under way.
"We think we're entering the sweet spot of office development in New York," said Rob Speyer.
The site—on 10th Ave. between West 34th St. and West 35th St.—consists of two separate parcels and currently is populated by parking lots and older, low-rise buildings. One parcel was owned by Sherwood Equities, the other by New York's Rosenthal family.
This push to build new office space has helped drive up land values. Sherwood bought its parcel for $8 million in 1986, and has invested only a few hundred thousand dollars in the properties since then, according to Jeffrey Katz, Sherwood's president.
Tishman Speyer is paying $200 million for that property. "This is one of the hottest markets for land I can remember. I've never seen an acceleration of price so fast," Mr. Katz said.
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I knew it wouldn't stay on the market long. Don't know where the extra footage came from, but who cares. We're looking at a nearly 3 msf whopper. With Tishman Speyer, the site is now in very capable hands. They won't sit on it forever like Sherwood.
About that "sweet spot" of office development, that may be right. Things are moving forward at a faster rate than expected. By the city's estimates, it would be 30 years before the Hudson Yards is built out, but at the rate things seem to be moving, it could be half that. And it seems we are on a collision course. At the northern end of the Hudson Yards, we see a desire to switch commercial to residential, because the residential market is so hot right now. But the southern end of the Hudson Yards is the epicenter of new office development.
It's why I always say large sites that are zoned for office development should remain that. In a decade or so, the city could be looking at another situation where there are no large lots to build on. Due to the nature of the blocks around Grand Central, the lots for the eastside rezoning aren't as large, and as a result, the towers won't be as large, (unless De Blasio creates an even higher FAR for that area).
It would be a good problem for the city to have in the short term, but in the long term, there would have to be more options down the road.
Back to this tower though, I suspect Tishman will want to outdo Related, and build the signature tower of the Hudson Yards. I wouldn't rule out a mixed-use tower either. About the height, who knows. It could be anything at this point. We just don't know, and will have to see more of the plans.