Annual Report 2013

Grand Ambitions

Lower Manhattan skyline as of March 2013. Courtesy Joe Woolhead

NEW YORK CITY IS CREATED AND SUSTAINED BY GRAND AMBITIONS Throughout its history, the City's private and public sector leaders have combined an ability to think big with a penchant for realizing their boldest dreams.

Assembling the spire atop 1 World Trade Center. Courtesy James Deacon

Their efforts made New York City a pioneer in skyscraper construction, which in turn gave birth to the world's most renowned business districts. Their feats of engineering created the bridges, subways, tunnels, and roads that knit five boroughs into one great metropolis.

Similar visions and innovation gave rise to the unparalleled network of parks, universities, and cultural institutions that have made New York City a premier global destination.

Fortunately, New York's adventurous spirit has been on full display in recent years. Consider all that has been accomplished.

Whole neighborhoods have been remade as vibrant hubs of business, tourism, and residential living - from Williamsburg in Brooklyn to the former meatpacking district in Manhattan to Long Island City in Queens.

A new generation of cutting-edge, environmentally sustainable office towers has risen, thanks to daring developers and such bedrock corporations as The New York Times Company, Time Warner, Bank of America, and Hearst, all of which chose to commit to New York City for the long term.

Rendering of Brooklyn Landing/Clumber Corner. Courtesy WXY architecture + urban design

Remarkable progress has been made on the first transit expansion projects in generations - the Second Avenue Subway, East Side Access, and the extension of the #7 line to Manhattan's Far West Side.

Billions of dollars in private investment have produced new homes for the Yankees, Mets, Nets, Giants, and Jets, while the Knicks and Rangers are playing in a modernized Madison Square Garden. The Lower Manhattan skyline has been reborn via construction of three World Trade Center towers.

In addition, well over a million visitors have made their way to the recently opened 9/11 Memorial with millions more to come annually once the companion museum is completed in 2014.

New Whitney Museum under construction. Courtesy Tim Schenck

More than $4 billion in public and private dollars have been invested to improve and expand the City's unrivaled network of parks, open spaces, and recreational facilities. This incredible tally includes the creation of approximately 750 acres of new parkland, including Brooklyn Bridge Park and the High Line.

New York's cultural, educational, and healthcare institutions have spent billions of dollars to modernize and grow their facilities. The Whitney Museum, John Jay College, and Weill Cornell are a few examples of institutions that have invested heavily in their futures.

Rendering of future Cornell NYC Tech campus on Roosevelt Island. Courtesy Kilograph

Rendering of Hunter College Science and Health Professions Building and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Outpatient Cancer Care Center

Tunnel construction underneath Grand Central Terminal. Courtesy MTA/Patrick Cashin

SECRETS OF SUCCESS
New York City has succeeded because government officials, the business community, civic leaders, and nonprofit institutions have dared to dream big.

The City, along with the rest of the nation, has had its share of good times and bad over the past decade. What hasn't wavered, however, has been a spirit of cooperation and an unshakable confidence in its future.

The administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, along with the New York City Council, has invested billions of dollars in vital infrastructure and quality-of-life initiatives. Their efforts have given developers and businesses the confidence to continue investing and growing. Improvements to our schools, public safety, and City services have likewise convinced residents that New York is a great place to live, work, and raise families. All of these elements have created a sense of stability perhaps never before seen in New York City.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

As the men and women of the design, construction, and real estate industry fully understand, major City-shaping initiatives can take decades to realize, spanning multiple economic cycles and political administrations. One need look no further than Times Square for a prime example. That transformational redevelopment was accomplished with the cooperation of four different mayors.

Similarly, it will take years and a lot of hard work to fully realize the biggest and most ambitious initiatives that began in the last decade.

Consider the City's higher education sector. Both Columbia and New York Universities have garnered approvals for multi-billion dollar expansions and modernizations of their iconic campuses. Likewise, the City University of New York continues its own multi-billion dollar capital plan. Finally, Mayor Bloomberg's vision for Roosevelt Island yielded an agreement with Cornell University and Technion to build a brand new campus devoted to information technology.

On the economic development front, construction has begun on the first tower at Hudson Yards. And while the Barclays Center opened with great fanfare last year, it is only the first component of a residential-focused Atlantic Yards development that will rise over the coming years.

Barclays Center. Courtesy Bruce Damonte

Each of these development projects, and many more, need to be nurtured over years and perhaps decades to ensure they reach their full potential. They require government leaders willing to work with the private sector to anticipate and overcome the many obstacles that inevitably will arise. Such cooperation and shared responsibility is necessary in order to grow and diversify New York's economy, accommodate a growing population, and realize the tax revenues from new neighborhoods and increased economic activity.

A CROSSROADS
On January 1, 2014, New York City will find itself with a new Mayor for the first time in 12 years. That Mayor will select his or her own deputy mayors, schools chancellor, police commissioner, agency leaders, and head of economic development. Together, they will direct a City workforce encompassing thousands of individuals.

Rendering of proposed Staten Island Ferris Wheel. Courtesy New York Wheel LLC

New York will also have a new speaker presiding over a City Council that will be considerably altered as a result of term limits, as well as a new comptroller, public advocate, and borough presidents.

While such turnover is not unprecedented, it is a cause for concern given the stability and efficiency with which City government has operated during the Bloomberg era.

To follow are just a few of the challenges that will face the next administration.

Office Construction
As New York's 20th century skyscrapers age and other cities continue to grow, it becomes increasingly important that New York undertake a campaign to construct the next generation of office towers. Despite recent successes, the City is in danger of falling behind the competition in the race for office space. Consider that New York City produced approximately 140 million square feet of new office space between 1950 and 1980, yet produced a net of just less than 70 million square feet in the three decades that followed.

Rendering of future towers at Hudson Yards. Courtesy Related

The City of New York has done a fair amount to spur office construction, mainly through a series of rezoning initiatives designed to modernize existing commercial centers, such as Midtown East and Downtown Brooklyn, while also setting the stage for new mixed-use districts in areas such as Hudson Yards and Long Island City.

But rezoning alone isn't enough. Government must also reduce the relatively high real estate tax burden on New York City and come up with ways to simplify the regulatory process, which is complex, burdensome, and adds to overall development costs.

Only then will the City and the private sector be in the best position to expand and modernize its stock of office space.

Regional Mobility
Even as the City, State, and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey forge ahead with existing projects, we must start thinking about the next big ideas for mass transit. Innovations to consider include full build-out of the Second Avenue Subway, modernization of the region's three airports, and a revival of plans to double interstate commuter capacity via a new cross-Hudson Tunnel linking New Jersey to Penn Station.

Storm Response
New York emerged from Superstorm Sandy with a much greater understanding of its vulnerability to more frequent and severe weather events. These storms pose an imminent threat to the metropolitan region's public safety, economic vitality, and quality of life.

It is incumbent upon the next City leaders to conceive, finance, and implement a series of measures designed to rebuild and protect New York's coastal communities; reinforce its existing infrastructure, energy, and telecommunications systems; and ensure that future public and private sector projects are able to withstand the challenges posed by climate change.

Infrastructure
In an era of limited resources and growing debt, the City's new leaders must come up with creative ways to finance ongoing maintenance of and improvements to New York's vast network of schools, parks, roads, bridges, water and sewer mains, and power and telecommunications grids. It also will be necessary to work in partnership with the State and Federal governments, which are major sources of funding for these projects, to ensure New York City receives its fair share.

THE INDUSTRY'S ROLE
Given the current budget constraints that New York faces, the next group of leaders might find it enticing to rest on the laurels of previous administrations and become complacent about investing in the City's future.

Rendering of the Bloomberg administration proposed surge barrier at Newtown Creek. Courtesy New York City Economic Development Corporation

The building community cannot let that happen. The industry must remain a vocal and considered advocate for New York's future, and must continue to push for the types of investments that will catalyze the region's growth and sustain its economic future.

The industry must also ensure that public sector leaders are committed to continuing New York's legacy of great ideas. After all, no other community possesses more of the vision, innovation, and expertise necessary to dream big and to transform those dreams into reality.

As an effective advocate for New York's future, the Building Congress and its members are working to shape debate on capital investments and economic development prior to the upcoming elections. And once the next generation of City leaders is in place, the industry will work in partnership with them in the collective pursuit of the next grand ambitions.