BY DENNIS LYNCH | The minds behind the Hudson Yards mega-development revealed the 2.9 million-square-foot 50 Hudson Yards tower last week. The Foster + Partners design is 985 feet tall and 58 floors, which is shorter than Related Companies and its partner at 50 Hudson Yards, Oxford Properties Group, had originally projected in 2014.
The glass-wrapped rectangular tower will occupy an entire block at the northwest corner of W. 33rd St. and 10th Ave., and is comprised of three stacked sections of commercial space. “Marquee tenants” will have private sky lobbies, outdoor terraces, and an executive valet. 50 Hudson Yards will also feature a glowing “halo” band of light above its top floor.
The architects pushed the structural elements toward the edges of the building to allow for column-free floor plates. Each floor can accommodate 500-plus people, according to Related Companies. A senior partner at Foster + Partners said 50 Hudson Yards is “crafted from a simple palette of white stone and glass,” and “aspires to define the workplace of the future.”
Anchor tenant BlackRock, an investment management firm, will occupy 850,000 square feet across 15 floors there. BlackRock moves from its headquarters at Park Ave. Plaza on E. 52nd. St. It is one of many companies that Hudson Yards and Brookfield Properties’ neighboring Manhattan West development have pulled from Midtown East.
“Their decision to relocate after nearly three decades on and around Park Avenue is another strong vote of confidence in our collective vision for Manhattan’s West Side,” said Related Companies CEO Jeff T. Blau. “They will join an unprecedented collection of global influencers in media, fashion, beauty, tech, law and finance at Hudson Yards.”
“Welcoming BlackRock to Hudson Yards is a milestone bigger than any one building or development,” President & CEO of Oxford Properties Group Blake Hutcheson said. “It is a ringing endorsement for Manhattan’s West Side as the epicenter of commerce, culture and community.”
50 Hudson Yards sits just north of 30 Hudson Yards, a massive 92-story tower at the southwest corner of W. 33rd St. and 10th Ave., itself attached to the 10 Hudson Yards tower through a multi-story retail and dining complex dubbed the “Shops & Restaurants” at Hudson Yards. Both 50 and 30 Hudson Yards were designed to be LEED Gold-certified. 10 Hudson Yards was designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification.
Office space at the 28-acre development built over the railyard west of Penn Station is currently 88% committed, and retail space is 60% committed, according to Related. Hudson Yards will also feature a six-acre public plaza outside the buildings, and in it, British designer Thomas Heatherwick has created a 15-story high public sculpture called the Vessel.
