- Proposed development of the MTA’s Western Rail Yard site, including eight mixed-use towers, as envisioned by the Related Companies. Image: Courtesy of Related Companies.
The Council’s Land Use Committee approved the proposal after the developer agreed to provide permanently affordable on-site housing. On December 14, 2009, the City Council’s Land Use Committee modified and approved Goldman Sachs and Related Companies’ proposal to develop the Western Rail Yard site on the far west side of Midtown, Manhattan. The thirteen-acre site is bounded by West 33rd Street to the north, West 30th Street to the south, Eleventh Avenue to the east, and Twelfth Avenue to the west. The High Line runs along the site’s southern and western edges, but it is not part of the proposed project.
The approved plan will convert the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s open rail storage yard into a 5.7 million sq.ft. development that would include eight mixed-use towers, containing roughly 4,600 – 5,700 dwelling units, 5.4 acres of open space, and a new public school. The proposal included setting aside twenty percent of the project’s rental units as affordable housing. Related submitted applications to rezone the site from an M2-3 to a C6-4 district, obtain special permits to build two parking garages with a maximum of 1,600 combined spaces, and to extend the Special Hudson Yards District to include the site. (more…)
