Related Tweaks $12B Hudson Yards Casino Proposal After Pushback
Related Cos. and Oxford Properties Group are more than doubling the number of housing units in their Hudson Yards West plan as they fight to win approval for a casino in the next phase of the $25B megaproject.
In place of an office skyscraper, the group is offering to build two new residential towers, allowing the construction of as many as 4,000 housing units, up from the previous plan to build 1,500 units, according to a press release.
The project is part of the developer’s pitch, in partnership with Wynn Resorts, for one of the state's three downstate casino licenses, which are expected to be awarded later this year.
To make it feasible, the developers have proposed a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes public-private financing structure that would help fund construction of a $2B platform over the existing rail yards and infrastructure for the Long Island Rail Road.
A PILOT program was used to fund the first phase of Hudson Yards — built over the eastern portion of the Manhattan rail yards that take trains into Penn Station — which includes six skyscrapers, a luxury mall, the Vessel sculpture and The Shed performing arts space.
Related won the rights to develop over the tracks in 2008 and at the time planned to develop 5,800 units and a K-8 public school over the 13-acre Western Rail Yards.
When the state opened the bidding for casino licenses, however, Related changed its plans for the $12B second phase to include a 2.7M SF casino and hotel supertall, an office supertall, a 1,500-unit apartment tower and a school.
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, as well as local groups like the Friends of the High Line, came out in opposition to Related's plan. Levine told Crain’s New York Business that he opposed the project because it included far less housing than Related had promised to build.
“Over the last few months, we met with the community and heard consistent calls to add more housing to Hudson Yards West, even as many acknowledge the unique financial hurdles of developing the site,” Related CEO Jeff Blau said in a statement Friday. “This is the type of creative solve the community has been asking us to find, and we look forward to discussing it with the City Council.”
Related officials had previously said that the economics of developing the Western Rail Yards had changed since the original proposal, and an office-and-hotel-centered project would generate enough revenue to cover the cost of construction, while a housing-centric development wouldn't work.
Earlier this month, the City Planning Commission voted 9-4 to approve the previous plan, in part because it provides more green space for the neighborhood.
That means that the latest version, including the PILOT scheme for funding, is now in the final stage of the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure and will go in front of the city council for approval.
The developers expect the project to create 35,000 union construction jobs, a 5.6-acre public park, the public K-8 school, a daycare center and a community facility, as well as generate more than $2B in revenue for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
All downstate casino bids are due in June, and bidders will have until Sept. 30 to resolve any land disputes, a deadline that has made some nervous.
Earlier this week, Las Vegas Sands announced that it has withdrawn its proposal to build a casino on the site of the Nassau Coliseum. SL Green, Thor Equities, Silverstein Properties and Mets owner Steve Cohen all have competing bids with Related for what is expected to be just one license up for grabs.
