Now it's really official: the M.T.A. board this afternoon voted to approve a deal with the Related Companies and Goldman Sachs to develop over the 26-acre West Side rail yards.

A few nuggets of rail yards info from the meeting: According to M.T.A. CFO Gary Dellaverson, who summarized negotiations to the board, the key to the Related Companies' victory was its willingness to literally pick up the $1.054 billion Tishman Speyer deal and sign it, only inserting one notable change.  read more »

One of the remaining bidders for the West Side rail yards, a team of the Durst Organizaiton and Vornado Realty Trust, said it is expecting that S.I. Newhouse’s Condé Nast will remain part of its bid as an anchor tenant.

“We expect that Condé would be our partner,” said Durst spokesman Jordan Barowitz.

However, Condé, which began a new search for space after Tishman Speyer was named the winner over the Durst/Vornado team in March, did not make clear its plans, as a company spokeswoman, Maury Perl, declined comment.  read more »

With Tishman Speyer out of the picture at the West Side rail yards, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is now headed back to the other three bidding teams (Extell Development, the Related Companies, and a joint venture of the Durst Organization and Vornado Realty Trust); that is, if they’re still interested.

The apparent frontrunner, given that it was the runner-up to Tishman in the original bidding, would be Durst/Vornado, the only remaining team in late March with an anchor tenant, S.I. Newhouse’s Condé Nast. If Condé Nast is no longer on board with a move—The Times has reported that Tishman failed to woo them in recent weeks—that could mean trouble for the Durst/Vornado bid, or certainly the value of it.  read more »

Tishman Speyer appears to be in the pole position going into the final stretch of the West Side rail yards saga, as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as of this morning, was still negotiating with the firm to hammer out an agreement before Wednesday’s MTA board meeting, according to three people familiar with the talks.  read more »

A developer for the West Side rail yards could be selected as early as tonight, with Tishman Speyer and a venture between the Durst Organization and Vornado Realty Trust leading the field, according to two people familiar with discussions.  read more »

For the second time in three months, construction-related equipment has fallen from of Douglas Durst’s Bank of America Tower, located at the northeast corner of Bryant Park.

This afternoon, a horizontal post that was supporting netting fell from the 27th floor of the 54-story tower, dropping onto the seventh floor, according to the Department of Buildings. No injuries were reported.  read more »

How much money can it take to build the Bank of America tower at One Bryant Park?

A whole bunch, apparently.

The developer of the building, the Durst Organization, has taken out another $300 million mortgage, public records show, an amount that will be used “to finish the job,” said Durst spokesman Jordan Barowitz. The loan was always planned, Mr. Barowitz said, and should provide enough to bring the building to completion next year.  read more »

4 Times Square.

Well, there is actually some good news coming out of the Condé Nast building today, according to the New York Times.

The owners of a Times Square tower have wired their building with radio equipment designed to help emergency workers better communicate with each other once inside-- especially in parts of the building where radios tend to drop signals.

The installation of a so-called repeater system in the building, the 52-story Condé Nast building at 4 Times Square, took about a year and a half and cost less than $300,000, the owners said. The Fire Department's first deputy commissioner, Frank Cruthers, called the installation of the system by the Condé Nast building's owners, the Durst Organization, a "wonderful example of corporate good citizenship."