50 Hudson Yards’ Concrete Core Reaches 1,011-Foot-Tall Pinnacle, in Hudson Yards

Hudson Yards. Photo by Michael Young

Construction of the concrete core appears to have topped out at 50 Hudson Yards, a 1,011-foot-tall commercial supertall in Hudson Yards and number eight on our countdown of the tallest buildings in progress in the New York metropolitan area. Designed by Norman Foster of Foster + Partners and developed by Related Companies with Oxford Properties, the 58-story skyscraper will yield 2.9 million square feet of office space, making it the largest building by volume in the first phase of the Hudson Yards master plan.

Recent photos show the remarkable progress that has occurred since YIMBY’s last update in early September, when construction had just passed the halfway mark. The curtain wall of reflective glass and marble is rapidly rising along with the steel framework, which is still more than a hundred feet below the core. The wider northern and southern profiles will express a greater sense of verticality with much thicker slabs of the marble separating the multi-story glass grid.

50 Hudson Yards. Photo by Michael Young

50 Hudson Yards. Photo by Michael Young

50 Hudson Yards. Photo by Michael Young

50 Hudson Yards. Photo by Michael Young

The safety cocoon continues to ascend the steel superstructure with each new floor, and the construction cranes get closer to the height of Kohn Pedersen Fox‘s adjacent 30 Hudson Yards. Just to the north of the property is Bjarke Ingels Group‘s 66 Hudson Boulevard, aka The Spiral, which has been rising simultaneously with Foster’s tower. However, it seems that the rectangular concrete core of 50 Hudson Yards has won the race to the summit. We expect the remainder of 50 Hudson Yards to top out in early 2021.

50 Hudson Yards. Photo by Michael Young

50 Hudson Yards. Photo by Michael Young

50 Hudson Yards (left) and The Spiral (right). Photo by Michael Young

50 Hudson Yards (center) between The Spiral (left) and 30 Hudson Yards (right). Photo by Michael Young

50 Hudson is making a big impact on the skyline and contributes significantly to the density of Hudson Yards and the nearby Manhattan West complex.

Hudson Yards on December 13. Photo by Michael Young

50 Hudson Yards on December 22, showing the concrete core topped out. Photo by Matt Pruznick

Meanwhile the crane on the western elevation is steadily being removed in sections.

50 Hudson Yards (center) between The Spiral (left) and 30 Hudson Yards (right). Photo by Michael Young

50 Hudson Yards. Photo by Michael Young

50 Hudson Yards is expected to finish and open sometime in 2022.

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17 Comments on "50 Hudson Yards’ Concrete Core Reaches 1,011-Foot-Tall Pinnacle, in Hudson Yards"

  1. Yay! 50 Hudson Yards has topped out! And as I expected, 50 would beat The Spiral in topping off. But, it is just a concrete core, so I don’t know.
    But in terms of 50 Hudson Yards’s overall form, I think it’s great. The facade is looks phenomenal and I love its location next to The Spiral. What a great pair. All in all, I can’t wait to see 50 Hudson Yards progress even more. Great building.

  2. Reminds me of China with hundreds of billions invested in which later turned out to be empty buikdings . Not to worry it is all washed,

  3. “Phenominal”?

  4. David in Bushwick | December 24, 2020 at 10:19 am | Reply

    Marble?!
    By now, every architect and experienced developer should know better.

  5. So tired of the people who endlessly criticize development. This building is quite handsome and adds nice texture to the new far west side skyline. These buildings will likely be far from empty in a few years, so nice try. Everyone said the city would not bounce back after Black Friday in 1987, after 9/11, after the Great Recession in 2008-09. It always comes back stronger. Post DeBlasio and COVID, NYC will be back strong as ever, in a new form that is less dependent on financial services and more on tech and e-commerce.

    • Have a cookie, Stevie.

      We complain about bad developments, and the city is full of them. We complain, because over and over again we’ve seen krap like the Hudson Yards super-mall for tourists dropped on us without care for the negative impacts on the city on the whole. You think it adds to a skyline? How? You can’t see it because it is blocked by all the other tchotchkes trying desperately to be heard over the death-cries of economic diversity.

      And no one – NO ONE – from NYC said the city wouldn’t bounce back from Black Friday, 9/11 or 2008. Indeed, it was the brilliant pundits in the rest of the country who have greatly exaggerated our demise time after time, only to be spectacularly wrong. But here’s a big hint about why: it isn’t because of development that we recover, it’s because we have created the NEED for development. Without that need, development is just a well-paying job with the potential for really bad side-effects.

      And “tech and e-commerce???” God help us. Those yahoos work from home. That isn’t an urban circumstance.

      • Take a basic business course and focus on the part about real estate development being geared toward the highest and best use. You all have these pipe dreams about what perfect development opportunities are being missed over and over again. Have you seen what the land costs are? What do you propose these developers do? Build density, low-income housing there? Please. Spare us.

  6. can someone explain to me why they are continuing to build these type of structures as the NYC commercial real estate market is cratering? are they in too deep to stop? the way the NYC economy looks going forward it may take 10 years for it to recover if ever….can anyone shed light on this?

  7. steve O….do you live in NYC?…have you been there recently?

  8. For those who criticize New York for the construction of these buildings that according to them will be empty, I inform you how New York City there are no two a great resilient city that is like gladiators when they are defeated they draw strength and always rise victorious

  9. For those of you who are responsible for the bulldozing of NYC, for the sake of these ridiculous, useless phallic symbols, you need to stop believing your own hype. You’re not a real NYer.

  10. First of all, do any of you recall the awful buildings and waste-strewn lots that were replaced by these astonishing skyscrapers? I vote for these skyscrapers and the income – taxes too – they will generate. All this working from home nonsense is simply a novelty, nothing more. Who, over time, will chose to sit in their dining room, dressed in their jammies and review sales projections? Who will chose NOT to interact/confer with others at a nearby desk, meet a client, or construct a massing model (yes, I am an architect). We must guard against morphing into a nation of hermits (exaggerating only slightly) and insist the dining room be reserved for flower vases and coffee cakes.

  11. Is this a solution to any of
    New York City’s
    vast problems?

    More buildings!
    More people!
    More traffic!
    More density!

  12. Yes they are, and very potent solutions at that. Too many assume that the real estate investors will all harken from Illinois or California and but they are not. Investors, real estate people and bankers stand to make handsome returns in NYC, and that will be very good. FOREIGN speculators will also be eager to make a couple of bucks here – and they will, just watch!

  13. Awa Toure December, 29 2020 at 9:26pm
    It’s perfect

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