Brookfield’s Manhattan West Breaks Ground at Hudson Yards
Ever since it was first announced, New York City’s real estate aficionados have been closely following the Hudson Yards redevelopment project, with the undertaking expected to completely transform Manhattan’s real estate scene from the way it is today. Several of the city’s top developers are involved in the project, including big players like Related Companies, Brookfield Office Properties and Extell Development Company. While Related has their groundbreaking ceremony in December, Brookfield had theirs earlier this week on Tuesday, signaling the start of work on the $4.5 billion Manhattan West development on 33rd Street and Ninth Avenue.
Manhattan West will have more than five million square feet of office and mixed-use development, with the western portion of the site reserved for an 850-unit apartment building. In keeping with their vision of creating environmentally sustainable additions to Manhattan’s real estate sector, Brookfield has announced that the Manhattan West site will also host a 1.5 acre public park; a welcome spot of green in this gleaming new metropolis. According to a report in AM New York, the entire site will also have a platform deck overlooking it, with 16 pedestrian bridges surrounding both the buildings and the park.
Although the Manhattan West site is smaller than the 26-acre site owned by Related Companies, Brookfield’s project has its great location to its advantage, with the development located just one block away from Penn Station. As a result, Manhattan West will be able to enjoy all of what the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood has to offer, with nearby blocks also seeing a lot of change in the coming months, chief among them being the redevelopment of the Farley Post Office, which will become Moynihan Station in a few years time. Keeping these plans in mind, it’s easy to see why Brookfield expects Manhattan West, when completed, to become Midtown West’s “centerpiece.”
With the Hudson Yards redevelopment in full swing, the interest in the once-neglected neighborhood has also been booming. With the area being the only section of Manhattan that is available for redevelopment today, New Yorkers are eager to see what this new phase of construction is going to bring to Midtown Manhattan. Thanks to the presence of the very popular High Line Park, the neighborhood, which will be called the Far West Side, has already been seeing an increase in visitors. Of course, this momentum is expected to only pick up in the coming few months, making the Hudson Yards the district to watch in New York City today.