Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
PRESENTATION
Reasons for modifications to the original Western Rail Yard plan
0:30:00
·
72 sec
The presentation explains the key factors that necessitated modifications to the original development plan for the Western Rail Yard site. These changes are primarily driven by economic and market conditions that have evolved since the project's inception.
- Infrastructure costs have doubled to over $2 billion for the platform over the rail tracks.
- The original plan relied on luxury condominiums to fund infrastructure costs, which is no longer financially viable due to market conditions.
- Current construction costs exceed the market value of potential condo units, making the original plan unfeasible.
- Without modifications, the site would remain an undeveloped rail yard.
Jeff Blau
0:30:00
Next slide.
0:30:03
Just to spend a minute on why we are here, I want to highlight some of the changes since we first acquired the rights to develop this site over fifteen years ago.
0:30:12
A platform over the rail tracks is required in order to build on this site, and the cost of that infrastructure has basically doubled to over $2,000,000,000 In addition, when this project was first conceived, the intent was for luxury condominiums to pay a large chunk of the infrastructure costs.
0:30:31
Now, the cost to build a condo building on this site is higher than the value of the units in the market, meaning nothing can be built without a change in strategy.
0:30:41
For evidence of that, you can look at sale prices for the condos we built across the street at Hudson Yards, which are lower than it would cost with labor and materials to build a new building on this site.
0:30:53
Just to reiterate, without a change here, this site will remain an undeveloped rail yard.
0:31:00
Next slide, please.
0:31:03
While the gaming application is subject to a separate process, this application paves the way for that opportunity by adjusting the configuration of the buildings.