Here is an interesting tidbit from The Wall Street Journal: Frank McCourt has acquired a development site in Manhattan for $167 million two years after Sherwood Equities paid $43.5 million for the space. The area, which will host a 730,000 square foot tower, sits at 30th St. and 10th Ave., mere blocks away from the 7 line extension, and various stakeholders are crediting the new subway stop with spurring on the tremendous increase in property value in the Far West Side.
Jeffrey Katz, president and CEO of the site’s former owner, is one of those stakeholders. “I think if you asked people a year ago about this district, still they would say ‘Are you crazy?’ Quite a number of people now understand there’s something extraordinary going on,” he said to The Journal. “The surge in value on this site was so dramatic—it was unprecedented—that our rate of return could never have been higher.”
The one-stop 7 line extension to 34th St. and 11th Ave. is set to open by next June, and the city has paid over $2 billion to the MTA to build this transit spur in the hopes of realizing the value in Manhattan’s last undeveloped frontier. So far, what I once derided as a Subway to Nowhere is shaping up to be the prime mover in something that is most definitely transit-oriented development within the boundaries of Manhattan.
10 comments
Right. That was the Department of City Planning’s plan 20 years ago.
Despite what is going on, DCP probably over-estimated the tax revenues the extention would bring. Why? Because of the former middle class becomming the new working class and office workers being squeezed into smaller spaces, there has been little unsubisidzed office development for 20 years.
Back in the day office buildings contributed a huge share of the city’s taxes. Not so now — lower rents, lower asssessments, relative to inflation.
Meanwhile, lots of the building that has gone on has been residential. Less in taxes, more need for services, less of a surplus to pay back the bonds.
Give Bloomberg credit. He pushed through upzonings for future development in a host of transit-served locations such as the Far West Side, Long Island City,and Downtown Brooklyn. If the city does need more office space in the future, developers will be able to move forward as soon as tenants and financing are secured.
I do not understand why the city does not do “subway station mini-cities”. Do massive up zoning of areas within one block of a subway (where workers and residents will be more willing to forgo cars). Have all buildings accessible to a station without going outside. Include malls and shopping where people swipe metro cards (clam taps??) on the way out and then can re-enter without charge within 90 minutes, thus really putting such shopping inside the fare control zone.
Tremendous value (in excess of construction and current cost) can be created.
In short subways should not cost us, they should be value generators as our city expands within its own footprint.
is personal driving really worse than people driving into manhattan for work and causing traffic?
The one place where this is extensively in practice (Hong Kong) also has an absolutely dead street life in areas where this model is followed – the development has become so rail oriented that it makes the pedestrian environment outside unattractive. New York’s vibrancy comes from its grid and streets – do we really want to destroy that?
(Also, superblock-style mega-development, even where the grid is preserved, is an extremely outdated model of planning that hasn’t worked.)
(Also, superblock-style mega-development, even where the grid is preserved, is an extremely outdated model of planning that hasn’t worked.)
That’s why Arlington County VA is in the process of redeveloping the Crystal City area. The plan is to reconfiggure the street grid away from one way roads & superblocks to a TOD neighborhood with more street life. The underground concourses will remain as they are popular & have direct access to Metrorail.
The TTC subway stations in downtown Toronto have shops & restaurants as part of the PATH network, but it hasn’t taken away the cities street life. Infact PATH isn’t just a indoor way to get around, it’s one of the cities most noted tourest atractions.
For more info; Michael Saunders PATH Manager 416-392-1005.
MTA should have bought those properties.
They then should have built a subway.
Subway paid for by development of properties in now-valuable land.
The 30th and 10th site also benefits a bit from the success of the High Line, which from a pedestrian standpoint, already has made that area a bit of a destination and when extended, will wrap around the south side of the site.
Does anyone know how many passengers this new station will serve when it opens?
woops I meant customers not passengers
not much at first, but they are building a lot of buildings in the area. two on 29th or 30th between 10th and 11th. and they started construction on top of the LIRR rail yards for residential towers, shopping and a cultural center