The New York City Industrial Development Agency held a public hearing yesterday on whether or not to approve $170 million in tax breaks for Tishman Speyer’s $3.2 billion office and retail tower planned for Hudson Yards. The tax breaks would come as compensation for the firm’s contributing millions for the expansion of the city’s number 7 subway line and other general improvements to infrastructure at the site.
A final vote on the matter is scheduled for July 22nd. If approved, Tishman Speyer would receive the tax benefits over a twenty five year period.
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The new tower will meet LEED Gold standards and have 57, 000 square feet of retail space. It is expected to create 7, 611 construction jobs and more than 7, 100 office, retail and building-service employment opportunities once it is completed. The owners would be required to comply with New York City’s living wage law, which would mean paying workers a minimum wage of $10.30 an hour plus benefits, or $11.90 an hour without benefits.
This law, however, only applies to developers who receive more than $1 million in government subsidies for their projects and not to the businesses which rent space in the building.
Tishman Speyer announced in April that it had acquired the block of undeveloped land stretching from West 34th to West 35th streets to build a 2.85 million square foot tower. He firm’sco-CEOs Jerry and Rob Speyer said at the time that they were “very bullish on New York City and Hudson Yards, and found this to be the perfect time, development site and opportunity to participate in establishing Hudson Yards as the world’s next great commercial district and neighborhood.”
When it is complete, Hudson Yards will be a complex of five skyscrapers and two smaller buildings running between 10th and 11th Avenues from East to West and 30th to 34th Streets from North to South. Four will be office towers and the fifth residential. There will also be a retail promenade with room for 100 shops and 30 restaurants.
The developers expect the first phase of the project to be finished by 2018. That encompasses the area between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues.
Founded in 1978 by Robert V. Tishman and Jerry I. Speyer and headquartered in Rockefeller Plaza, Tishman Speyer is a leading owner, developer, operator, and manager of real estate in the world, having managed over 123 million square feet across the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia.
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