The joint venture team of developers Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group broke ground yesterday, March 19, on the $700-million eastern platform over active rail lines on Manhattan's West Side. The platform, part of the massive Hudson Yards redevelopment site, follows the start last December of another project at the site, the 80-story North Tower, 30 Hudson Yards.

Rendering Courtesy of Related-Oxford

Rising High: The Hudson Yards redevelopment site is expected to take about 10-12 years to complete.

The size of the entire mixed-use site grew last year with the addition of 50 and 55 Hudson Yards located between 33rd and 34th streets and 10th and 11th avenues. The construction cost of the entire site has also grown to $20 billion, from $15 billion last year.

The structural steel platform will feature a reinforced concrete deck that will bridge active Long Island Rail Road lines in the Eastern Rails Yards section of the site. Pre-construction work on the platform began in mid-2013.
 
“The start of construction on the Eastern Platform and the remaining towers is the result of over three years of diligent planning,” said Related Hudson Yards president Jay Cross, in a statement.
 
Construction on the platform is being coordinated with work already under way on an Amtrak concrete tunnel box, says Tutor Perini, general contractor for both Hudson Yards and the Amtrak project. Thornton Tomasetti is the platform’s structural engineer, and Langan Engineering & Environmental Services is the geotechnical and environmental engineer. Arup is the life safety systems engineer.
 
More than 7 million sq ft of Hudson Yards is scheduled to be under way by year end, says a Related spokeswoman. The JV began building the first tower at the site, the $843-million, 52-story South Tower, in December 2012. Construction costs of the North Tower have not been disclosed.
 
The Hudson Yards redevelopment project is expected to take about 10-12 years to complete and will provide more than 23,000 construction jobs, Related says.
 
The entire Eastern Rail Yards section, which includes the two commercial towers, a boutique hotel, and cultural space, is scheduled for completion in 2018. No startup dates have been set yet for the planned Western Rail Yard portion of the project, which will include a school and residential and retail space.

(This story has been amended to update the construction cost of the entire Hudson Yards site and provide more information on the site itself.)