The Hudson Railyards site is a 26-acre site that runs from 30th to 33rd Streets between 10th and 12th Avenues. It is owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and located within the recently rezoned Hudson Yards area. After plans to build a new Jets Stadium on the site failed, the city began negotiating with the MTA. In September of 2006, the MTA agreed to work with the city to develop the rail yards. The City Council approved the agreement in October of 2006.
On July 13, 2007, Governor Eliot Spitzer issued Requests for Proposals (RFP) for the Hudson Railyards. For development purposes, the site was split into two separate sites – the East Rail Yards (ERY) and the West Rail Yards (WRY), each about equal in size (approximately 13 acres) – and a separate RFP was issued for each site. The ERY site was included in the Hudson Yards Rezoning, which was adopted in January 2005, and is currently zoned for large-scale commercial development. The WRY site remains zoned manufacturing and would need to be rezoned before development could begin. Together the two RFPs allow developers to work with 12 million square feet of new residential and office space (check this).
On October 11, 2007, the MTA received five proposals for the site from large development companies including Tishman Speyer, Extell Development Co., Brookfield Properties Developer, The Related Companies, and a joint effort by The Durst Organization and Vornado Realty Trust. The proposals were put on public display in Grand Central Station from November 19 until December 3 and a forum to receive public comments was held on December 10. On March 26, 2008 the MTA announced that it had awarded the bid to Tishman Speyer who offered $1.004 billion for the 99-year lease of the site. Since that announcement, the MTA and Tishman have been negotiating the final terms of the deal. Recent reports of complications in these negotiations have raised some doubts about the future development of the site.
For news and information about developments in the larger Special Hudson Yards District created by zoning map change (040499(A) ZMM) and the zoning text amendment (040500(A) ZRM), please see our related Hudson Yards Rezoning & Development project.