NYC'S MOST IMPORTANT PROJECT

NYC's most essential project isn't the recently heralded extension of the 7 line or even the in-process 2nd Avenue line (or putting some kind of showering system in at Zuccotti Park), says one lifelong New Yorker. It's the out-of-sight, out-of-mind third water tunnel being dug from the Catskills to Manhattan.
A very thirsty Barry LePatner of LePatner & Associates (born and raised in Brooklyn and now a Midtown Easterner) tells us restaurants and apartments will follow the 7 and High Line west, but without the water tunnel (which will allow the existing two tunnels to be shut down for repairs one at a time), our water would dry up faster than Earth, Wind & Fire (that joke would work if the band wasn't still touring). Actually, it'll leak out of the old pipes before it reaches us, he says. Barry also just happens to be moderating Bisnow's NY Post-Recession Projects event a week from today with Greenberg Traurig's Robert Ivanhoe, Bentall Kennedy's Marty Standiford, Gibson Dunn's Andrew Lance, TF Cornerstone acquisitions and finance head Jeremy Shell, and Gotham Organization's Melissa Pianko. Sign up now!
Still, Barry acknowledges that it's the above-ground work that draws in private investment. The High Line (above) has attracted $2B in private investment to the immediate area, and the $2B extension of the 7 line will be similarly worth it. Both will lead to the renovated Javits (still too small, he says) and Hudson Yards, and Barry expects a hotel across from the convention center to be among the city's 400 recession-stalled developments to restart. Many others will be non-CBD projects like Rockrose's residential work on the Long Island City waterfront, as well as Willets Point near Citi Field. He says the South Bronx is on the cusp of a renaissance, not to mention Washington Heights around the GW Bridge.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's New York Newsletters
Related Stories

Wonderful Real Estate Inks Major Land Deals, Sells 1M SF Facility Near Bakersfield

Developers Land $204M Loan For East Village Project: The N.Y. Deal Sheet

From Precast To Conservation: Addressing Today's Stormwater Challenges

Microsoft Sues JLL For Protection Against Lawsuit At NYC Office Project

Ireland's AI Funding Boom Helps Drive Down Dublin Office Vacancy Rates

How AI Is Reshaping Brokerage Operations And Investor Portfolios

NYC Is Building Hotels Again. It May Not Be Enough

Developers Scheme To Build More Housing Units As NYC's Tax Incentive Ages

Rates, Rents And AI Risks: Peter Linneman's Warning For CRE

Delaware Statutory Trust Fundraising Jumps 27% From 2025

Tishman Speyer Retakes Chrysler Building, Plans $235M Renovation

Activist Investor Buys Stake In Empire State Building Owner