As the largest private real estate project in U.S. history, the 28-acre mixed-use Hudson Yards from developer Related Companies and Oxford Properties Group will reveal eight buildings (including residences, a high-end shopping mall, Thomas Heatherwick’s the Vessel sculpture, and the Shed cultural center) when its first phase, Eastern Yard, is completed. The second phase, dubbed Western Yard, will expand the site’s residential, office, and retail offerings and also include an elementary school. When construction wraps in 2025, the sprawling community will boast 18 million gross square feet of built space, 14 acres of public space, and is expected to add $19 billion annually to the city’s GDP.
The development counts a handful of well-known architects and designers as collaborators, including Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Rockwell Group (handling the 15 Hudson Yards residential building) a well as Boston firm Elkus Manfredi Architects and Kohn Pedersen Fox, which led the design of the recently opened Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards.
Steel and dark wood appear throughout the interiors of the shopping center, recalling the former railyards of the area, while natural stone floors and exposed support structures complement the rough-hewn, urban opulence of the vertical neighborhood. The space will host a rotating calendar of cultural and entertainment programming, accented by artwork that celebrates the site’s past, present, and future. Snark Park, a permanent exhibition from locally based design studio Snarkitecture will also be featured onsite.
Mercado Little Spain, an F&B concept from chef José Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup, will showcase three full-service restaurants, numerous bars, and more than a dozen tapas stalls across 35,000 square feet. Additional culinary options will be the American concept TAK Room from Thomas Keller Restaurant Group; Kāwi and Fuku, two new eateries from Momofuku; and the all-day European café Queensyard from D&D London.
A 190,000-square-foot Neiman Marcus outpost, which houses three restaurants across its top three levels, serves as a key standout of the retail offerings. Overall, the Shops & Restaurants will comprise more than 100 stores spread across seven levels. New York’s first 16,000-square-foot outpost from the Dallas-based boutique Forty Five Ten will also debut with four distinct storefronts.
