5/31/2016
By Ivan Pereira
After a tumultuous decade of planning, construction and setbacks, Hudson Yards is now in business.
10 Hudson Yards, the first tower in the redeveloped section of the West Side, welcomed its first tenant Tuesday with the arrival of nearly 300 Coach employees.
“Most of the community has been living with this development for years,” said Deloris Rubin, the chair of Manhattan Community Board 4, which represents the area. “There is a sense of accomplishment.”
The 895-foot-tall glass building, adjacent to the High Line at the southeast corner of 30th Street and 10th Avenue, has a nearly 30-foot video wall that spotlights products and fashion campaigns by Coach and fellow tenant Stuart Weitzman. The lobby also includes a massive display of every bag produced in Coach’s 75-year history.
Victor Luis, Coach’s CEO, hailed the space’s amenities, including larger conference rooms, a design studio, a 250-person gathering space and a private terrace as keys to fostering creativity for the entire 1,200-person staff (the rest of the employees will move in by the end of the summer).
“The amount of open space will allow for good collaboration,” he said.
Coach’s arrival is just the beginning for the 26-acre development, the final plan in a series of proposals for the former rail yards, the most extensive undeveloped area left in Manhattan.
Between now and 2025, the space will have 11 additional buildings, a retail center, a school and two public spaces. 55 Hudson Yards, located near the entrance of the No. 7 station, will open in 2018 and house several law firms. The million-square-foot retail space, located behind 10 Hudson Yards, will also open in 2018 and a year later the 1,296-foot tower at 30 Hudson Yards will house Time Warner.
The second phase of the project also includes 4 million square feet of residential space.
“It’s an exciting new neighborhood and it’s a good way for companies to jump-start their quality,” said Andy Rosen, a Vice President of Related Companies, Hudson Yards’s developer.
Rubin said the community eagerly anticipates the 14 acres of greenspace, and is pleased with the development overall, but still has concerns about the rest of the construction, especially when it comes to the residential component.
Although 5,000 of the 20,000 units will be designated as affordable, the community board chair said there isn’t enough information about the cost of those homes, or the number of additional services, such as police, fire and EMT coverage, available for those new families.
