NEW YORK—Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Brookfield Properties CEO Dennis Friedrich, and other elected officials broke ground early Tuesday morning on Manhattan West, part of the larger Hudson Yards development.
Hudson Yards is a large-scale real estate project that will transform Manhattan’s far West Side. With 15 structures planned in total, the development will feature a spire that rises higher than the Empire State Building, a courtyard featuring a statue the size of the Statue of Liberty, and a vast amount of residential and commercial real estate space.
The first phase of the project is the construction of a platform over the Hudson rail yards. The rail yards are owned by the MTA and have been leased to the developers for $1 billion for 99 years. Bloomberg said that more than 600 construction jobs would be created for the construction of the platform alone. When the platform is completed in 2014, the rest of the construction at Manhattan West will begin. Both the mayor and Friedrich cited 2016 as the date when the first residents will move into the properties.
“By building this platform Brookfield Properties is making a major investment in the future of the Hudson Yards area and there is every reason to think that will prove to be an extremely wise investment,” said Bloomberg. “Manhattan West will be a prime location in which to live or work, a vital piece of a mixed-use community with a vision of the Hudson Yards area, which is beginning to take shape.”
Manhattan West is located across Ninth Avenue from the future Moynihan station, construction on the first phase of which began in 2012. Hudson River Park and High Line Park, both highlights of the rising far West Side, are within blocks of the development.
“Manhattan West will serve as a much needed expansion of the midtown central business district,” said Friedrich.
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