The City Council approved today a rezoning of the 26-acre development of the west yards of the Metropolitan Transit Authority in midtown after the designated developer, The Related Companies, agreed to increase the affordable housing component of its huge development plans for the site and an adjoining site that had already been rezoned.
According to Council Speaker Christine Quinn's office, Related agreed to set aside at least 431 units at the project for low-income families and to extend the length of affordability programs in five other Related properties on the West Side, according to an article by Elliot Brown at observer.com
Related envisions at a total of about 5,000 housing units at the site. Tishman Speyer Properties was originally designated the developer, but withdrew and the city then chose Related.
"The biggest question with the rail yards, of course," Mr. Brown observed, "is whether Related will actually develop them. The firm has until the end of January to execute a contract with the M.T.A., which owns the site, and Related executives have said they expect to do so. Still, committing to building - and starting payments for a price tag totaling $1 billion - is a harrowing task in this market."
Earlier in the day, the Council voted 45 to 1 not to approve Related's planned redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx because opponents felt the proposed mall would offer "poverty wages."
According to Council Speaker Christine Quinn's office, Related agreed to set aside at least 431 units at the project for low-income families and to extend the length of affordability programs in five other Related properties on the West Side, according to an article by Elliot Brown at observer.com
Related envisions at a total of about 5,000 housing units at the site. Tishman Speyer Properties was originally designated the developer, but withdrew and the city then chose Related.
"The biggest question with the rail yards, of course," Mr. Brown observed, "is whether Related will actually develop them. The firm has until the end of January to execute a contract with the M.T.A., which owns the site, and Related executives have said they expect to do so. Still, committing to building - and starting payments for a price tag totaling $1 billion - is a harrowing task in this market."
Earlier in the day, the Council voted 45 to 1 not to approve Related's planned redevelopment of the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx because opponents felt the proposed mall would offer "poverty wages."
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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