Building a city within a city

New York is one of the most developed pieces of land in the world.  Developers are constantly looking for new ways to develop property, and take advantage of New York’s expensive property rents and prices. One such development is the enormous Hudson Yards project, which has an estimated total cost in excess of $25 billion. 

This project is taking advantage of the last known undeveloped space in Manhattan, which is located in the air above the West Side Rail Yard.  This site had originally been earmarked for New York’s 2012 Olympic bid, but having lost out to London was repurposed for both office and residential space. 

Development of the site commenced on December 4th 2012, with the first building (52-story, 895-foot 10 Hudson Yards) opening on May 31th 2016.  The project has proved extremely difficult due to the construction location, and the complexity of the foundations due to both over ground and underground train networks.  Regardless of the difficulty, this project is certainly worth the effort as it will add over 10million square feet of workable space to New York.

The project will also prove to be a significant boost to the local economy, with an annual injection to the city of around $19 billion.  That equates to around 2.5% of the city’s current GDP, and more notably, a larger figure than the entire financial output of Iceland in 2015.

As well as large office space, the development will also offer 4,000 residences – a mix of owned units and rentals – a public school for 750 students, a public arts centre and 14 acres of open space.  Once the project is completed in 2025, the area will be occupied by over 125,000 people making it a small city in its own right. 

Many wince at the idea of a multi-million-dollar project, built on the back of land offing a meagre 99-year lease, but with New York’s rocketing property prices, it seems Hudson Yard is a logical investment.

Image by: William John Gauthier