Stephen Ross

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.

What is sure to be the first of many business and residential structures built around it, a new branch of the posh Equinox gym opened January 3 under, between, and overlooking the High Line. Their lobby incorporates the High Line's support columns, and the yoga studio looks directly onto the Line itself.

More pictures after the jump.

Unsurprisingly in the wake of the subprime crisis and general market shakiness, much of the Rail Yards dialogue has turned away from design and towards financials.

Of course, guessing is a bit tough, given the MTA's refusal to make the financial bids public (which the HYCAC called for as part of its summary of top community concerns).

Background on the financial situations of each of the developers has led to a lot of speculation over which one would be the surest bet for the MTA, an agency that knows its way around fiscal headache.

A Crain's editorial recently endorsed Related and Tishman Speyer for the site, pointing to anchor tenants to add heft to the deal:
"There are no more resourceful, experienced or financially solid real estate companies in New York. Their tenants, News Corp. for Related, and Morgan Stanley for Tishman, offer a strong likelihood the project will get off the ground."
The Crain's site is for subscribers only, but the complete editorial is after the jump.

The MTA still plans to announce a decision by the end of March.

Crain's caught up with four of the five Rail Yards developers at the 112th annual Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) gala.

• Related Companies announces a $1.4 Billion investment by firms including Goldman Sachs and MSD Capital.

Crain's New York Business reports today that the three developers who have lined up anchor tenants for the rail yards site, Related, Durst/Vornado and Tishman Speyer, have an advantage in the eyes of the MTA.

Crain's' Theresa Agovino reports:

On Monday night, over 200 interested members of the community (as well as political figures such as New York State Senator Tom Duane) gathered at the Hudson Guild at an event sponsored by Community Board 4 and the Hudson Yards Community Advocacy Coalition that included presentations from the five developers who have submitted plans for the rail yards. After the presentations, attendees had the opportunity to break into small groups to discuss the plans and give their feedback in a formal way.

Photos of the event can be found here. 

CB4 prepared a handy info sheet (PDF) comparing each plan by the numbers. A summary from the community discussion will be available soon.

The developers' presentations were short and business-like, as they labored mightily to conform to a time limit of ten minutes per proposal. That was still plenty of time for lots of shiny pictures (and in the case of the Durst/Vornado plan, a snappy video), as well as for some revealing rhetorical moments. A brief digest after the jump.

On Monday, architects from the five development teams presented their designs to the public at Cooper Union. Videos of each presentation are now available. Please note these videos have been edited down for length, and the sound quality is not great.


Steven Holl for Extell

A quick visual comparison of the five developer's plans, alongside the MTA's land use guidelines from the RFP. Note the different distribution of open space and building arrangement.