Continuing the discussion from NEW YORK | Hudson District - Hudson Boulevard Corridor Subdistrict:
Revealed: 511 West 35th Street
BY: NIKOLAI FEDAK ON DECEMBER 12TH 2013 AT 6:00 AM
511 West 35th Street, image from Alloy
Alloy’s website has a new rendering of the firm’s plans for 511 West 35th Street, which will eventually house a skyscraper of approximately 500,000 square feet. The current reveal is tentative given the site may still trade hands; Related is making a concerted effort to acquire several lots along the future ‘Hudson Boulevard,’ including 511 West 35th Street.
Per Alloy, “[design] and entitlement work to date expresses the development potential and zoning freedom that the site affords,” corroborating the site’s uncertain future. If the rendered design is built, it would be a departure from the bulkier towers along the southern end of Hudson Boulevard.
Related would be the most sensible choice for the site’s developer, as the company owns an adjacent lot at 517 West 35th Street that can accommodate another large tower; combining the properties would yield air rights of approximately one million square feet, creating an opportunity for another potential supertall.
Given the zoning for 511 West 35th Street – which emphasizes commercial but also allows for a small residential component – the eventual tower will likely be mixed-use. Crain’s reports a significant interest in developing a hotel on-site, and if that does occur, it would become one of the largest on the far West Side.
UPDATED, 9:01 a.m., Dec. 27: Dealing with divorce doesn’t seem to be slowing Eliot Spitzer down. The former New York governor’s family-run development firm Spitzer Enterprises has bought a block-long development site at Hudson Yards from Alloy Development for $88 million, according to city records filed today.
The 17,281-square-foot site is located at 511 West 35th Street between 10th and 11th avenues and runs through to West 36th Street, according to an offering memorandum from Massey Knakal Realty Services. It offers 75 feet of frontage on West 35th Street and 100 feet on West 36th Street. The site is currently leased to a trucking company, but the lease contains a termination clause provided the tenant is given six months notice, according to the memorandum.
Spitzer Enterprises could build up to 172,000 square feet as of right, but with the purchase of additional air rights through the Eastern Rail Yard and a district improvement bonus, the company could go as big as 415,000 square feet, said Massey Knakal’s Bob Knakal, who represented both sides of the deal with his colleague, Stephen Palmese. Just under 104,000 square feet are zoned for residential use. The sale closed Dec. 19.
“It’s one of the great growth opportunities in Manhattan,” Spitzer told The Real Deal, referring to Hudson Yards. He is still brainstorming the best possible use for the site, whether “mixed-use, fully commercial, or hotel,” he said, declining to comment further.
Alloy paid $24 million for the site in 2007, city records show. Jared Della Valle, Alloy’s president, said that the company had “enjoyed seeing the neighborhood mature since our acquisition,” and was now focused on “new neighborhoods in a new administration.”
The site was expected to fetch about $75 million, as previously reported.
“This transaction reflects the tremendous demand of the Hudson Yards district, sure to become the most dynamic neighborhood in the city in years to come,” Knakal said.
The Related Companies, which is spearheading the Hudson Yards development along with Oxford Properties, was thought to be one of the potential bidders on the site. Related owns the property next door at 517 West 35th Street, and a deal for 511 West 35th Street would have allowed them to build a tower just shy of a million square feet.
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