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More than 200 union workers, along with Brookfield Global Office CEO Dennis Friedrich; Amtrak Deputy Chief Engineer Section Improvement Al Fazio; plus Amtrak, Long Island Railroad and New Jersey Transit workers, celebrated the historic completion of the platform built over the rail approach to Penn Station, creating the space that will be a new public plaza at Manhattan West, a mixed use commercial development.
The event took place on the concrete platform that spans the tracks, with the giant yellow gantry, “The Launcher” serving as a backdrop. This 2.1 million pound, horizontal gantry, custom-built for this project, was used to lift and place sixteen, 56,000-ton concrete bridge segments atop the exposed railroad tracks, building a solid platform for a public plaza.
“Our deck is done, and we have created new land on the West side of Manhattan that will allow our beautiful new neighborhood to take shape,” said Friedrich. “We salute the union laborers – the men and women – who have worked around the clock to make this dream a reality. We look forward to seeing our project now begin to rise to the sky.”
Manhattan West will include two new class-A office towers, a residential building, retail, a five-star hotel, rooftop gardens, restaurants and cafes. The site will be transected by a two-acre park.
“This project represents a major step in the re-development and growth of the West Side and ultimately will assist in the development of the new Gateway Tunnels and Moynihan Station,” said Amtrak Deputy Chief Engineer Section Improvement, Fazio. “This team is to be commended for their outstanding execution of the initial phase; the professionalism in planning and construction engineering led to flawless implementation.”
Brookfield’s Manhattan West, a $4.5-billion master-planned real estate project at Ninth Avenue and 33rd Street, will be a dramatic addition to the Midtown Manhattan skyline. The five-acre site, with seven million square feet of office and mixed-use development, provides a unique opportunity for a signature company headquarters in the most exciting growth area of Manhattan. One block west of Penn Station, Brookfield’s development sits at the gateway toManhattan’s new West Side. Offices, hotels, residences and transit upgrades are planned for surrounding blocks, including redevelopment of the adjacent Farley Post Office as the new Moynihan Station.
