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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

30 Hudson Yards
30 Hudson Yards is a supertall skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan's West Side, New York City. It is positioned near Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea, and NY Penn Station. As of November 2022, the building is the sixth-tallest in New York City and the eighth-tallest in the United States. It is a key structure in the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project, which aims to revitalize the West Side Yard of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The skyscraper offers a unique feature: a triangular observation deck known as The Edge. Located on the 100th floor, The Edge includes a bar and event space on the adjacent 101st floor. The deck, at a height of 1,100 feet, is the world's second-highest outdoor observation platform with transparent flooring, trailing only the Cabo Girão cliff skywalk in Madeira, Portugal.

30 Hudson Yards was previously the headquarters of WarnerMedia. Following a 2022 merger with Discovery, Inc., the new entity, Warner Bros. Discovery, remains a tenant. The building also serves as the headquarters for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., an American global investment company.

History

The groundbreaking ceremony took place on December 4, 2012. Early construction work focused on building a platform to cover much of the Eastern Rail Yard, for much of Phase 1 to sit upon and to allow the Gateway Rail Tunnel project to pass underground with a clear path. The platform is rested on caissons that are drilled underground into the solid bedrock known as Manhattan schist. On December 12, 2013, it was announced that Tutor Perini Building Corp. was awarded a US$510 million contract to build the platform.

In 2013, Time Warner (later WarnerMedia, and now Warner Bros. Discovery) announced its intention to move most of its offices to 30 Hudson Yards, vacating its current headquarters at the Time Warner Center, also owned by Related, at Columbus Circle. The company would occupy half the building, below the 38th floor.

In mid-2015, Related received a $690 million loan from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and CIBC which allowed construction to start. By January 2016, the structure's first few aboveground floors were already complete. Construction of the observation deck at the top of the tower began in April 2018. The observation deck was nearly complete by mid-2018.

In January 2019, WarnerMedia hired Douglas Harmon and Adam Spies of Cushman & Wakefield to find a buyer that would sell their office condominium and allow the company to lease it back—known as a sale-leaseback. WarnerMedia's office condo included more than 1.4 million square feet on floors 16 through 51 and represented approximately 60 percent of the 90-story tower with 2.6 million square feet.

The building opened on March 15, 2019. One month later, WarnerMedia executed a leaseback and sold their space to Related and Allianz for $2.2 billion after signing a 15-year lease for 1.5 million square feet (140,000 m). The sale closed in June 2019. The partners financed the purchase with a 10-year, $1.43 billion commercial mortgage-backed security interest-only loan from Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs. In June, KKR took out a $490 million mortgage from Deutsche Bank on their office condominium space.

Tenants

Studios

Architecture and design

Kohn Pedersen Fox was chosen for the design of the building, while Thornton Tomasetti was lead structural engineer and Jaros, Baum & Bolles provided MEP engineering services. Originally planned to be 1,337 feet (408 m) tall, the building was later downsized to 1,270 feet (390 m) tall, making it still the development's tallest building. WarnerMedia's space features amenities including a cafeteria, a fitness center, a two-level auditorium and cinema and an outdoor deck. The protruding outdoor deck has resulted in reviewers likening the building's shape to a duck.

The building's lobby contains artwork by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa consisting of 11 stainless steel spheres hanging from the ceiling, meant to represent global unity and cultural diversity.

Edge

The building features an 1,100-foot-tall (340 m) outdoor observation deck known as "Edge", located on the 100th and 101st floors. Edge contains a cantilevered outdoor terrace jutting 80 feet (24 m) outward south of the building on the 100th floor, providing panoramic views of Manhattan and the Hudson River. Edge is the second highest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere after the SkyPod at the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, The tallest outdoor observation deck in the Western Hemisphere. However, both are lower than Top of the World, the rooftop observation deck at top of the original South Tower of the World Trade Center which was 1,377 feet (419.7 m) high. Edge is also the second highest observation deck in New York City, after One World Observatory. Visitors can lean into the nine-foot (2.7 m) high clear glass barricade slanted 6.6 degrees outward to safely check out the street and rooftops below. Edge also features a 225 sq ft (20.9 m) glass triangle in the floor which looks down to the street 1,131 ft (345 m) below. There is also a grand outdoor staircase on the east side of the deck.

Edge opened to visitors on March 11, 2020, and temporarily closed two days later due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. Edge reopened on September 2, 2020.

City Climb at Edge

In October 2021, it was announced that 30 Hudson Yards would host another attraction dubbed “City Climb at Edge” which allows visitors to ascend an outdoor staircase located at the top of the tower's crown. It was opened to the public on November 9, 2021, and is the highest open-air building ascent in the world.

Gallery

  • From the east, with 5 Manhattan West visible at left
    From the east, with 5 Manhattan West visible at left
  • The tower's base
    The tower's base
  • Under construction in March 2017
    Under construction in March 2017
  • The Edge, facing South.
    The Edge, facing South.
  • Under construction on the left with the completed 10 Hudson Yards on the right in May 2017
    Under construction on the left with the completed 10 Hudson Yards on the right in May 2017
  • Under construction in April 2018
    Under construction in April 2018

See also