By Stephen Jacob Smith 2/25 4:00pm

Name Game

NoChe: New York’s Most Unnecessary Neighborhood Neologism?

Manhattan West too corporate? Far West Side too bland? Clinton too anodyne? Hell’s Kitchen too imprecise?

“You’ve heard of NoMad, NoLita, and NoHo,” writes Bisnow. “Well, get used to ‘NoChe.’ ” (We’d prefer not to!) “It stands for North Chelsea, pronounced a touch exotically”—because nothing screams exótico like millions of square feet of shimmering class A office space!—”like the Spanish word for ‘night.’ It’s how insiders are referring to the dramatic new area being forged by Brookfield and Related on the Far West Side.” Read More

By Matt Chaban 1/16 12:48pm

Under Development

If you build it, they will come. Promise. (Edward Reed/Flickr)

Midtown East and Manhattan West: Bloomberg, Zucotti Defend Rezoning at Megaproject Groundbreaking

One of the big debates that has been raging around the rezoning of Midtown East is how it might impact development already underway around the city, much of it funded in part by the public sector, and thus taxpayers. Should these projects fail, Joe Public could lose out on his investment.

The World Trade Center and Hudson Yards have been two focal points, but Manhattan West, which broke ground yesterday, ought to be considered, too. While the project’s backers bragged at the groundbreaking about building without public subsidy, they are still competing for the same anchor tenants as their rivals further east. Furthermore, the $2 billion the city contributed to the construction of the 7 train nearby is to be paid back through property taxes on the new projects. No new development, no bond proceeds, big trouble for the city.

Still, Mayor Bloomberg is standing by the decision to fast-track the Midtown rezoning and ensure it gets completed this year. Read More

By Matt Chaban 1/15 5:21pm

Developing Situations

10 Photos

Manhattan West Ho

Manhattan West on the Rise: Brookfield Breaks Ground on 60-Story Twin Towers

For the second time in as many months, Mayor Michael Bloomberg trekked out the Far West Side for a groundbreaking on a major new development built over a set of railroad tracks. While Brookfield’s Manhattan West is not quite as big as The Related Company’s Hudson Yards, in its size and scale and heft and sheer exclamation of the arrival of this once derelict corner of the city, the project measures up pound for pound. Some 5.4 million square feet of offices and housing and shopping on not much more than one city block.

“With today’s groundbreaking, we’re taking a major step forward in the transformation and rebirth of the Far West Side of Manhattan,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said from the podium at the corner of 33rd Street and Ninth Avenue. Read More

By Daniel Edward Rosen 11/02/11 9:56am

Leasing Agents

Cushman Tapped to Lease Manhattan West

Cushman & Wakefield has been tapped as leasing agent for Brookfield Office Properties’ massive 5.4 million-square-foot Manhattan West development on Ninth Avenue between West 31st and 33rd streets.

The new development boasts two new office towers at 2 million square feet apiece, along with a smaller tower–just by a hair, at 1.2 million square feet — and a fourth building at 200,000 square feet that will be a mixed-use space. Read More