In isolation it my be great that this is better than a rail yard, but it's important to note that Hudson Yards was financed in part by a diversion of a year's worth of funding from low-income housing elsewhere in New York: https://www.citylab.com/equity/2019/04/hudson-yards-financin... ... and in that context, it's notable that it's not a set of constructions that's built to last.
Yeah OP has to develop an LVT mindset. It's not "is the development good" or "is the development better than what was there before", but "is this the best use of the space".
The real good design is the rail yard person who left space for pilings to put something above in the 70s. (Some NYT article led with this fact.)
> All in all, Related solicited investments from some 3,200 foreign visa-seekers. This figure is significant, since the number of new visas that the U.S. issues each year under EB-5 has a hard cap of 10,000. Given that each eligible investor may claim visas for immediate family members—and since these family visas (an average of three) also count toward the overall cap—the Hudson Yards development may have easily claimed an entire year’s worth of visas issued under EB-5.
And why on earth would those EB-5 visa holders have invested in low-income housing? Nothing in the visa requirements description seems to mention 'low-income', 'distressed', 'economically disadvantaged' or anything of the sort. [0] Here:
> All EB-5 investors must invest in a new commercial enterprise, which is a commercial enterprise:
> Established after Nov. 29, 1990, or
> Established on or before Nov. 29, 1990, that is:
> 1. Purchased and the existing business is restructured or reorganized in such a way that a new commercial enterprise results, or
> 2. Expanded through the investment so that at least a 40-percent increase in the net worth or number of employees occurs
The closest thing is how it specifies amounts - $1m in general, or $500,000 in rural or high unemployment areas. Which is closer, but still doesn't require low-income housing...
Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19644880