Rail Yards

The turn-out of High Line supporters for Monday's Eastern Rail Yards Public Forum was great: more than 200 people rallied at Midtown's Red Cross in favor of preserving the entire High Line, including the Spur over 10th Avenue. Supporters wore red "Save the Spur" T-shirts and held signs during a presentation by The Related Companies, the designated developer at the rail yards.

Another big Rail Yards announcement this morning: the Related Companies have stepped in where Tishman Speyer dropped out earlier this month.

After a last-ditch effort to get their West Side Rail Yards negotiations back on track after Thursday's announcement, Tishman Speyer was unable to sway the MTA.

The MTA's statement today was short and sweet. In its entirety:

Yesterday, New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussof used Tishman Speyer's winning rail yards bid as an example of a problematic trend in urban development. He explains that misleading renderings are designed (or censored) to prevent public objection, so projects can slip easily through the public review process. Tishman Speyer, or course, is only one example of this, but when the MTA's announcement was made, Ouroussoff noticed,

For the very first time that we are aware of, the High Line was featured in a New York Times Editorial. In it, America's paper of record challenges the City and Tishman Speyer to seize the opportunity provided by the development rights to the West Side Rail Yards and to do the right thing and "preserve all of the High Line, the 1.5-mile stretch of elevated railway that is being transformed into a green jewel of public space."

There was considerable pride and a few tears as we read this unprecedented shout-out by the Times.

Read the editorial  on the Times site, or after the jump.

 

The MTA announced today that it has selected Tishman Speyer as the developer for the West Side Rail Yards. This announcement ends a 6-month bidding process, which originally involved 5 competing developers. Tishman Speyer outbid the only other remaining contender-- a joint venture between the Durst Organization and Vornado Realty Trust-- by $112 million, offering to pay $1.004 billion for the rights to develop the 26-acre site.

The development process for the West Side Rail Yards could be on the verge of an important milestone, which comes as a surprise to many who assumed this process would be slowed in the wake of economic uncertainty and the recent shakeup in state government.