High Line Blog

Negotiations between the MTA and Tishman Speyer have collapsed, according to the MTA, following a request from the developer to change the terms under which the project would be financed, as well as the project schedule. An agreement on the 26-acre site could not be reached.
Tishman Speyer was selected to develop the rail yards last month, after an eight-month [...]

Filed under: Rail Yards | Tagged: MTA, Rail Yards, Tishman Soeyer | No Comments »

 
The MTA announced today that it has selected Tishman Speyer as the developer for the West Side Rail Yards. This announcement ends a 6-month bidding process, which originally involved 5 competing developers. Tishman Speyer outbid the only other remaining contender– a joint venture between the Durst Organization and Vornado Realty Trust– by $112 million, offering to pay $1.004 billion for [...]

Filed under: Advocacy, Press, Rail Yards | Tagged: Advocacy, MTA, Neighborhood, Rail Yards, Tishman Speyer | 5 Comments »

This morning, MTA Executive Director Lee Sander gave the first ever State of the MTA address. However, despite RSVP’ing last week, I wasn’t able to make it inside, along with a bunch of other heartbroken transit enthusiasts. Bummer. Above are some shots of [...]

Filed under: Community | Tagged: MTA | No Comments »

Brookfield Properties has announced they have not submitted a second bid for the Rail Yards site. Supplementary bids were due yesterday.
Back in January, the MTA asked the five developers to submit supplementary materials supporting their ability to lease, not buy, the 26-acre site. None of this financial information was made public.
Brookfield’s decision not to [...]

Filed under: Brookfield, MTA | Tagged: Brookfield, Developers, MTA, New York Observer, New York Times | 1 Comment »

Unsurprisingly in the wake of the subprime crisis and general market shakiness, much of the Rail Yards dialogue has turned away from design and towards financials.
Of course, guessing is a bit tough, given the MTA’s refusal to make the financial bids public (which the HYCAC called for as part of its summary of top [...]

Filed under: MTA, Media, Related, Tishman Speyer | Tagged: Crain's, Financials, MTA, Related, Tishman Speyer | No Comments »

The January 28 MTA letter to developers generated a bunch of speculation on what the new guidelines will mean for developers, and it’s been a busy week for the various other developments around the Yards.

MTA Likely to Narrow Rail Yards Field (NYO The Real Estate)
MTA Wants Rail Yards Developer Designated By April 1 (NYO the Real [...]

Filed under: Media | Tagged: Crain's, Curbed, Developers, Javits, MTA, New York Observer, New York Post, Press, Real Deal | No Comments »

Crain’s has the latest on an increasingly complicated set of requirements for developers, as outlined by the MTA in their January 28 letter.
According to the article by Theresa Agovino, the winning developer will be contractually obligated to create a set of seperate funds that will go to the MTA for Rail Yards expenses and earmarks [...]

Filed under: Media | Tagged: Crain's, Developers, Financials, MTA | No Comments »

Following up on Crains’ reporting last week,  the Times reports this morning on bidding developers’ (anonymous) initial responses to the MTA’s request for new information (the Times reporter says ”new bids,” although that’s not how the MTA framed it)  reflecting the transit authority’s desire to lease, rather than sell, the land. The article hints that the developers are chafing under the new [...]

Filed under: Media, Site Background | Tagged: MTA, New York Times | No Comments »

According to Crain’s,  it now looks as if the MTA would prefer to lease the Rail Yards site to developers for 99 years, rather than sell it.   
A source at one developer said the MTA was caving in to public pressure not to sell the property, which includes active MTA rail operations. But the MTA spokesman says that under a [...]

Filed under: Media | Tagged: Crain's, Developers, Financials, MTA, Proposals | 2 Comments »

HYCAC, an official community coalition made up of members of Community Board 4, local electeds and community organizations, has written a letter to MTA CEO Lee Sander with its reaction to the five proposals.
The letter also brings up community concerns about the planning process at large, including the lack of infrastructure and affordable housing planning, the megablock [...]

Filed under: Community Input | Tagged: Affordable Housing, Anna Hayes Levin, CB4, Community Input, Financials, HYCAC, MTA, Rezoning, street grid, superblock, sustainability, ULURP | 5 Comments »