New York Construction Report staff writer
A tentative agreement between New York City and developer Related Companies will add significantly more affordable housing to the next phase of the Hudson Yards West redevelopment, city officials announced Thursday.
Phase 2 of the project, estimated at $12 billion, now includes 4,000 new residential units, with at least 625 set aside as permanently affordable housing — nearly a 50% increase over prior plans. An additional 139 units in the surrounding area will also be preserved as permanently affordable.
The project will also include 6.6 acres of public space, a 750-seat K-8 school, and a new daycare center. Construction is expected to generate 35,000 temporary jobs. The full Hudson Yards development is now valued at $32 billion, making it the largest real estate development in U.S. history.
Under the agreement, the city will use future tax revenues generated from the development to finance infrastructure, including a platform over the Western Rail Yards that will enable construction to proceed. The project has been stalled for nearly two decades.
The proposal is expected to advance to the New York City Council, the city’s Industrial Development Agency, and the Hudson Yards Infrastructure Corporation for approval.
The revised plan is the latest in a series of high-profile housing and infrastructure projects advanced by the city in recent years. Other major efforts include a 100% affordable housing development at Willets Point in Queens, a planned $850 million climate research facility on Governors Island, and the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, expected to become the country’s largest offshore wind port.
In addition to the Hudson Yards West project, city officials say future tax revenue will also help finance the decking over of active rail yards — a model used in other large-scale developments such as Pacific Park in Brooklyn and the original Hudson Yards project.
If approved, the expansion will contribute to the city’s goal of building 500,000 new homes in the next decade, amid rising housing demand and a severe affordability crisis.
