Building Congress Event
Construction Industry Breakfast Forum
Brookfield's Ric Clark and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. Headline September Forum
More than 300 members of the design, construction, and real estate industry gathered at the Plaza Hotel on September 24 for a New York Building Congress forum featuring Brookfield Property Group Chief Executive Officer Ric Clark and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.
Mr. Clark offered an expansive overview of the company’s global operations and properties, as well as updates on Brookfield’s two massive New York City developments.
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Those two projects – Manhattan West and the transformation of the World Financial Center into Brookfield Place -- exemplify Brookfield’s ability to successfully undertake massive “place-making” urban initiatives, which Mr. Clark said involves the creation of dynamic, mixed-use developments that “engage and entertain the people who work there and live nearby.”
He added, “Thanks to the great work of so many of you in this room and your support, I’m proud to say that things are going extremely well and we’re making great progress.”
Calling Brookfield Place “the largest and most ambitious redevelopment project ever undertaken by Brookfield,” Mr. Clark said it has been a huge success and that the positive public reaction has exceeded everyone’s expectations.
The transformation included a total reimagining and upgrading of its vast public, food, and retail spaces. It also entailed major upgrades to Brookfield Place’s eight million square feet of office space across five Lower Manhattan towers. After recently signing leases for approximately three million square feet, Mr. Clark said Brookfield Place is now more than 95 percent occupied.
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Mr. Clark then turned his focus to Manhattan West, a project he said has been on the drawing board since the 1980s. The project, most of which will rise above the rail yards west of Penn Station, will encompass six acres of real estate bounded by 31st and 33rd Streets from 9th to 10th Avenues. He said that the entire Manhattan West site, with the exception of one office building, will be completed in 2020.
Once complete, Manhattan West will include six million square feet of office space, 850 new apartments, a 200,000 square foot boutique hotel, 300,000 square feet of retail, and more than two acres of public parks and plazas.
Borough President Diaz told the crowd, “My job today is to have you think a little bit differently about the Bronx,” which he said is going through an amazing renaissance. “Now is the time to invest.”
“In the last six years alone, we have seen a turnaround in every single area,” he added, noting that the Bronx has produced 16,800 units of new housing and been the recipient of $8.5 billion in private investment and $350 million in park improvements since he became Borough President. He also noted that unemployment has been shaved in half during his tenure and that the Bronx is now the safest it has been in half a century.
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